


Run With It

by TheLadyFiction



Category: Thunderbirds, thunderbirds are go
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Background Relationships, Business Drama, Chaptered, Depictions of injury, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Depictions of Sexual Activity, Hurt/Comfort, Jayo (Thunderbirds), Kayo X John, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Attraction, Nerdiness, OC characters, Pen and Ink, Scott X OC, Slow Burn, Smut, Some BDSM, Thunderbirds - Freeform, Thunderbirds are Go - Freeform, Thunderbirds are Go! - Freeform, Virgil/Tycho Reeves, Warning in descriptions, m/m - Freeform, so much drama, some m/f
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-03-07 08:03:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 229,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13430469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyFiction/pseuds/TheLadyFiction
Summary: Virgil's been hurt in the past and even four years on, the scars are still healing.Now, a mutual attraction to Tycho Reeves, bought to the forefront by his visit by Brains' invitation to Tracy Island might throw off the balance he's fought so hard to keep.A Virgil/Tycho fic (because I just see it)Slow burn fic (eventual smut)





	1. Chapter 1

Scott was worried. And if Scott was worried, it was usually justified.

Perched at Jeff’s desk, looking at the portraits of his family on the wall, he was deep in thought, chin resting on tilted hands as he leant forward, eyes scanning each picture hung in sequence.

His gaze came to rest on Virgil’s portrait and he let out a sigh, thinking fondly of his eldest younger brother who was sound asleep upstairs, getting some well-earned sleep after 46 hours awake pulling people out of a mine collapse in Argentina. He’d stayed on a hunch after rescuing the original six reported and was, as usual, found to be right in thinking more people were trapped below who hadn’t been on shift.

39 people had been pulled bruised, battered and in a few cases with broken bones but very much alive thanks to his quick thinking and adaptability.

Scott was proud of all of his brothers, but especially in moments like that, he was proudest of Virgil and what he’d always managed to accomplish by his unique way of thinking outside the box.

Eyes still fixed on Virgil’s portrait, Scott heaved another sigh as a wave of dread hit his stomach. Shaking his head at himself, his gaze moved out onto the patio, past the pool and to the helipad just below where the rotor of their visitor’s personal helicopter could just be seen.

Tycho was here on Brain’s personal invitation, the two of them working on enhancements to all the craft. Since the incident with the hyper-car, Tycho had been in contact regularly and was now on his first visit to the island, having been granted wary clearance by Scott. After all, he was a well-known figure and thus less likely to make a grab for any spare technology. And he had willingly (and worryingly, almost enthusiastically) agreed to be subject to both arrival and departure searches to ensure he was trustworthy.

His presence was more welcomed now, but still threw the balance of their close knit group off somewhat.

Gordon was swimming less, Alan actually studying (likely in an attempt to impress Tycho), Kayo was spending nearly all her time designing, testing and outfitting enhancements for Thunderbird Shadow, under Brain’s watchful eye, John was calling less which might have had something to do with EOS nesting herself in the hangar to listen in on Tycho and Brain’s discussions and almost missing a call and Virgil…

Well here in lay the issue.

When Virgil had come out as gay during a massive family argument regarding the future of International Rescue shortly before their father had disappeared, none of the family had had an issue with it.

Jeff, for his part, fondly remarked he’d always known that Virgil was a little different and his brothers had all rallied behind him for support. It wasn’t as bigger deal nowadays as in the past, but to Virgil it had been an affirmation of ‘this is who I am,’ and the acceptance had spurred his confidence onwards, helping mould him into the superb rescuer he was today.

And Scott had not thought anything of it until a seismic research centre in Japan had been swallowed by a sinkhole and after the crew was rescued and they were packing up, _he_ showed up.

Jason Rei. A GDF disaster analyst, wanting a debrief for his superiors. A sensible approach, Scott had thought at the time, to analyse exactly what went wrong with industrial disasters and attempt to stop them from happening again.

And Virgil, having been the primary responder, graciously agreed to stay behind and give the debrief. Which lasted, as it turned out, several hours, for all of which he was out of contact.

Scott was not happy about that. He said his piece, Virgil apologised, explained they had been caught up in the moment talking about disasters past and promised it wouldn’t happen again.

Then a mobile sonar platform in the Atlantic failed and almost sunk due to poor manufacturing techniques and again, Virgil as primary responder gave the six hour long debrief.

Three more times, and Scott put his foot down, announcing that he would be attending the debriefs from now on.

Interestingly, when he sent Virgil home after an invasive gas drilling explosion was resolved, he found the debrief only 15 minutes long, and Jason rather standoffish.

Everything began to get back to normal. And then Virgil started disappearing.

The first time, a personal plane had gone and Thunderbird 2 was needed. Virgil answered his comm and remoted 2 to his location. After an earful from Scott, he agreed not to do it again, and requested leave.

In hindsight, if Scott hadn’t denied his leave, things might have ended up very differently, and not in a good way.

Another enormous row saw Virgil leave, threatening not to return. Two hours later, another disaster, and 2 remoted again to his location.

However, on returning from plucking a billion-dollar prototype plane from the back of a sinking carrier, Virgil was troubled.

He finally opened up, finally admitting that he had been seeing Jason since that first debrief, and that their meetings had turned into a lot more. However, recently he had been coaxing Virgil from the island, which explained his absences.

The part that troubled him, though, was the second a call came in, Jason was pressuring, constantly asking and even trying to follow him into Thunderbird 2, or asking to be taken to the island to see the launch, to meet everyone, to see the ships, everything. It had, apparently, come out of no-where.

Now with over 20 missed calls and some worrying text messages with vague implications, Virgil had become concerned.

Scott had had enough. He managed to reach Colonel Casey, intent on reminding her that part of their operations agreement was that no member of GDF staff was to request information on or about the location of Tracy Island.

But when the name of Jason Lei was mentioned, she confirmed their worst suspicions; no-one of that name was registered as a GDF employee, and there was no such thing as the Disaster Analysis Team.

For the first time in Scott’s memory, Virgil was livid. He trashed his room, the second lounge, fully intent on flying to Jason and demanding answers. Then the rage faded into tears and the grief, the guilt and the horror of being lied to finally hit.

They had a family meeting where Scott explained the basics of the situation with Virgil’s blessing and together, they came to the same consensus; they had to find out who this Jason was, who he was really working for and what his intentions were.

Virgil, for his part, couldn’t bring himself to contact him. The missed calls began to grow larger, the messages angrier and more threatening.

With Penny’s help, they managed to track down Jason’s past, his employment history and his real identity.

Fresh out of jail for fraud, with no-where to go, one Raleigh Hoii had been employed by Axius Industries as an analyst. Axius Industries, who as of three months ago no longer existed, having been seized and shut down by the GDF after they found that the company was owned and operated by known associates of the Hood.

The Hood had hired him to infiltrate the Tracy’s by any means and gain the location of the island, a fact he admitted when confronted by Parker and Penny.

His arrest for ‘undermining core government processes’ and ‘imitating an officer’ carried harsh sentences, as well as a gagging order surrounding his activities during the time he spent infiltrating, but for Virgil it was too late.

He was broken, unable to work, barely eating, not sleeping. He felt used, dirty and betrayed, and all for good reason.

Gordon and Alan hovered around him constantly, trying to make him smile, trying to coax a little of the old Virgil back.

When Virgil requested leave again, Scott approved. 4 weeks away. Travelling, he said. Scott didn’t press for details, he only made a request.

“Come back home.”

Virgil had given a weak smile as he hoisted his ready packed bag over his broad shoulders and headed down to the docks.

They had been the longest four weeks of Scott’s life.

Every day was spent worrying about Virgil, checking in with their agents worldwide, in case he’d been spotted. He was smart, and he stayed off the radar.

Then on a beautiful, sunny morning with the calmest sea you can imagine, Scott wandered, bleary eyed into the kitchen, fresh from an unheard of whole 6 hours of sleep, and a broad silhouette on the patio caught his eye, shadowed by the sun behind him.

He’d not even thought, he just ran down the side of the pool and straight into Virgil with arms open. And Virgil just laughed, wrapping his older brother in a hug.

He got similar welcomes from Alan and Gordon when they finally woke up, and John even came down in the elevator to check on him. Kayo actually seemed emotional and Brains was relieved he was okay. Even MAX did a delighted twirl at seeing him back.

Grandma straight up burst into tears and sobbed into his chest with her arms around him, vowing to never let him go. Virgil chuckled the whole time, promising never to leave her alone with the rest of them again.

The smiles were back, the easy-going nature, the relaxed posture and the confidence.

Questions about where he’d been flowed as they all sat down to a huge breakfast– Japan, South Africa, China, all over Europe and finally Australia before home had been the trip, helping people along the way wherever he could and coming to terms with what had happened.

Whatever he had done, whatever he chose to leave out, it seemed to have helped.

That was almost 4 years ago now, and Virgil, though not usually one to broadcast his personal life, had not shown any signs of seeing anyone since.

But now…

The moment Tycho had landed on the island and been introduced to everyone by Brains, Scott could see Virgil turning red. As Tycho shook his hand and remarked in his usual, thinking out loud way, how impressed he was with his flying skills during his rescue and, out of the blue, how anyone could ‘get lost in those eyes’ as he gazed, fascinated at Virgil before sharply turning to admire MAX, he saw Virgil, mouth still a little agape, regard the hand Tycho had shaken with a sort of reverence, the blush on his face growing as he shook a little. He had caught himself a moment later and physically shaken his head a little, an embarrassed smile on his face as he moved onto the patio, taking a deep breath.

Scott regarded him carefully, a flash of the dread which weighed him down now shooting through his stomach.

 _“Not again,”_ he’d thought. _“He can’t go through this again”._

And the truth was, Tycho was likely very different. For one, he wasn’t in league with the Hood. Two, he was trusted and was helping them. Scott was musing reason three when a rumbling voice snapped his attention away from his thoughts.

“You’re pretty much drooling there. You get enough sleep?”

Scott looked up to see Virgil, dressed in his usual morning attire of loose lounge trousers and a baggy grey shirt, his hair unstyled and wayward.

“You’re one to talk,” Scott grinned at his brother. His smile faltered a little as he noticed the dark rings around Virgil’s eyes as he moved to the coffee machine in the corner of the kitchen. “You’ve only had, what, four hours? You doing ok?”

Virgil smiled softly, not a happy smile, more a melancholy one and let out a sigh, continuing with his coffee making.

It was a few moments before he formulated a response.

“I… guess? Still tired. But sick of laying in bed staring at the ceiling. Just,” he sighed as the machine beeped, indicating it was ready and he reached to get a mug from the cupboard in front of him. “A lot on my mind. Thinking about stuff. You know.”

Scott nodded. He wondered if Virgil had been going over in his mind the same things he had.

“Yeah,” Scott mumbled in agreement. “I know the feeling.”

Virgil shot him a look, almost questioning as he took a sip of his coffee. Scott swallowed the growing lump in his throat, wondering if he should broach the subject.

He opened his mouth the speak but was cut off by the timely arrival of Brains and MAX, the robots tell-tale mechanical whir resonating through the room and almost cut off the excited voices that followed him.

Brains and MAX came up the stairs leading to the underground complex below them, closely followed by Tycho, the two men in animated conversation.

“So y-you’re saying that, that if we change the conductors,”

“That it would allow for more effective current transmission and faster response time, yes!” Tycho chimed, gesturing upwards. “Like neurons in the brain, if we get them to fire faster, faster response time! Experimenting with alloys could get the signals sent to the processing computers around 62% faster, which means tighter controls and…”

All three stopped as they stepped onto the floor, looking into the kitchen.

Tycho smiled at them both, as did Brains.

“Good morning gentlemen!” Brains greeted in his usual formal way. “We were just d-discussing improvements to T-thunderbird two’s control module, it’s all very exciting!”

Virgil perked up a little at the mention of his ship.

“You’re doing what-now to my girl?” he asked softly, genuinely curious.

Scott watched in mild amusement and Tycho registered his presence, seeming to not have done so before, being caught up in the conversation with Brains.

“Ah, Virgil! Brains has been telling me how good you are with Thunderbird 2’s systems. He says you do almost all of the maintenance yourself. Impressive!”

Virgil began turning red, suddenly finding his bare feet quite interesting.

“Oh, I… well she’s my baby,” he shrugged, placing his now empty coffee mug on the kitchen island. “It makes sense to know how everything works, inside and out. You never know when you’re going to have to fix something mid rescue.”

“A very sensible approach,” Tycho nodded excitedly, making his way across the room to where Virgil now tried to lean nonchalantly against the counter but still looked a little stiff.

Scott almost said something, almost moved to stop him as he saw the approach. The dread was back as he looked between them, Virgil with a shy smile on his face, Tycho staring at him with fascination and a hint of adoration, and the voice in the back of his mind screaming ‘ _Protect VirgilI’_ got louder.

“I’d like you to take me through your knowledge of the internal systems, if you’ve got time, of course. Brains said that you’re the man for the job, and I don’t think there’s any higher recommendation than that!” Tycho was almost bouncing on his heels with excitement.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Virgil responded, looking almost alarmed at the slim man now stood only a couple of feet from him, looking at him like he was the most interesting thing in the world. “Just let me grab a shower and get dressed and I’ll be down.”

“Fantastic!” Tycho chimed, now turning to Scott.

“Now, you!” he pointed directly at Scott, who was taken aback.

“Me?”

“You! Tell me, what niggles have you got with your Thunderbird? Brains says you like to complain a lot,” he grinned.

“Oh did he now?” Scott asked with a smirk as he registered Virgil slinking back upstairs out of the corner of his eye.

Across the rooms, Brains swallowed hard.

“Oh no.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for explicit depictions of masturbation.

Showers had always been comforting, Virgil thought as he let the near scalding water wash over him. No matter how bad things got, a nice hot shower would always help him clear his mind.

When he’d first found out about Jason’s deception, he’d sat in the shower for over an hour, curled up in the corner letting the hot water wash away his tears, just being comforted by the sensation on his skin.

Bracing a hand against the wall of the shower, he lowered his head into the stream of water, taking a deep breath.

_Stop thinking about him. This isn’t the same._

Since Tycho had arrived, it had been on his mind. The deception. The sting of hurt he still felt deep inside, the one he’d managed to bury and let heal over but that still felt dangerously close to cracking back open.

From the moment he’d first met Tycho face to face after their rescue, all thirty seconds of it before the press arrived and descended on them, causing the rescue team to make a hasty retreat and leave Scott to handle it, he’d felt a heat between them. Tycho had caught sight of him and just stared for a few seconds before giving a coy wave, one that had a level of innocence attached it almost made Virgil uncomfortable for feeling the attraction he did.

But now, seeing him on the island, knowing he was close and the damned comments he kept making were just confirming what he was almost already sure of; there was a mutual attraction there.

And now, as soon as he was ready, they were going to be alone, talking, working together on his baby, delving deep into systems and componentry and…

_What if he’s lying. What if he’s the same. He’ll hurt you, he’ll leave you. You’ll never see him again. It’ll be the same._

“Shut up,” Virgil muttered to himself, leaning his head against the cold tiles of the wall, the shower stream now pounding onto his back.

 _‘I’m allowed to feel this attraction. I’m allowed to move on. I’m allowed to heal. This isn’t the same’,_ he told himself. But his shaking hands betrayed his fear.

Feeling the anxiety inside him rising, he tried to distract himself, standing up straight again and rinsing the shampoo from his hair, visualizing the internals of Thunderbird 2’s control console, what he’d need to show Tycho.

This went some way to combating the rising feeling.

An image suddenly forced its way to the front of his mind, unbidden; _him, pressing against Tycho’s back as he leant against the control console, the slimmer man letting out a moan as Virgil pushed against him, his body pushing back, the friction delicious as they grinded into each other on Thunderbird 2’s console._

Virgil let out a soft gasp, bracing himself on the shower wall again, for entirely different reasons.

“Shit,” he whispered to himself as he felt heat rushing to his groin. He closed his eyes, desperate to fight the blood rushing south, but it was too late. He felt the pull of flesh as his dick hardened, the arousal already too far spread. “Fuck,” he bit his lip, taking in deep breaths.

It had been far too long since he’d allowed himself to think like this, and his reaction was confirming his concern that _maybe_ that hadn’t been too healthy for him.

His thoughts strayed to Tycho waiting for him in Thunderbird 2, wondering briefly if he had time to take care of this or whether he should just change the temperature of the water colder and be done with it.

His mind answered for him as it presented to him another image; _him sat in his control seat, moved back as far as it would go, naked from the waist down, Tycho on his knees between him and the control panel, hands roaming up his thighs, his tongue slipping out to tease the head of his cock…_

“Fuck,” Virgil gave a strangled moan as his free hand went to his dick, taking a firm hold and beginning to pump slowly. The sensation was almost overwhelming.

 _‘How the fuck did I go so long without this,’_ Virgil thought briefly before his mind went back to his fantasy, his hand continuing to stroke up and down his shaft.

_Tycho’s lips on the head of his cock, his own hand going to the mess of brown locks on his head, guiding him downwards, Tycho’s mouth opening to take him in, tongue running along the underside, adding pressure as he took his length in his mouth, bobbing his head in a steady rhythm, one of his hands moving to Virgil’s balls, cupping them for a moment before gently adding pressure, squeezing and pulling slightly._

Virgil mimicked this with his own hand before moving back to his shaft, picking up the pace a little. He was so close already, it had been _so long_.

He stood up from leaning on the wall and turned so his back was against the cold tiles to his left, bracing his entire body as he continued to stroke himself, biting his bottom lip hard to stop himself moaning.

_Tycho standing up and pulling him with him, leading him to the bunks above the cargo hold, watching as Tycho prepared himself, lubing his fingers and reaching behind his own body, stretching himself out, leaning over the bunk and offering himself, Virgil grabbing his hips and pressing against him, his dick teasing his stretched hole, slick with lube, ready to push in, feel that velvet grip._

“H-holy fuck, shit!” Virgil was caught off guard by the sudden rush of pleasure that overtook him. The heat inside him raged ferociously as is spread out from his groin, upwards to his shoulders and downwards to his toes, the tingling sensation that followed almost overwhelming as he came, coating his hand and hitting the glass shower door with his seed.

He almost collapsed, barely catching himself in time to lower himself to the wide base of the shower, heaving for breath. He tipped his head back as he gasped for air, his mind still fuzzy, pleasure still ringing in his ears, the sensitive feeling in his softening cock almost too much to bear after so long.

Taking a few moments to collect himself, Virgil could not help the sleepy smile which crossed his face.

 _That was so bad,_ he mused to himself, unable to find the strength to care.

He never expected it to happen, but it was a nice fantasy. He briefly wondered if he’d ever thought about taking anyone else in the cockpit of his bird. Racking his brain, he couldn’t think if he had.

It was a personal space, very personal. Inside his pride and joy. For some reason, Tycho being there, even in a fantasy, just made sense.

The beep of a communicator suddenly broke his reverie.

“V-Virgil, are you ok? Tycho is w-waiting for you in Thunderbird 2,” Brain’s voice echoed around the bathroom.

“Yeah, sorry Brains,” Virgil grunted as he reluctantly pushed himself up from the floor of the shower, washing himself down. “Just finishing up now. Be done in five.”

The comm line dropped and he sighed in relief.

Turning the shower off, he pushed open the door and shivered at the cold air that greeted him, raising goosebumps across his skin.

He felt almost like a weight had been lifted, a lot of tension he had been holding onto now gone.

 _Have to try that more often,_ he mused as he went to his closet, searching for some suitable maintenance garb.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for depictions of anxiety attacks.
> 
> Also flirting!

“Sorry I’m late. Got a bit caught up getting ready,” Virgil smiled as he pulled himself up through the lower hatch of Thunderbird 2 into the cockpit where Tycho was staring, dumbfounded at the open maintenance hatch and the tunnel 35 feet above built into the cavern wall which lead up to the lounge and the launch pod there.

“You… How did Brains describe it? You slide down a tunnel head first, get dressed up in your gear by some robot arm and then come hurtling down an extending track and grab onto some handles to swing yourself, last second into this hatch, from there?” he asked, sounding almost stricken.

“Uh… yeah?” Virgil was unsure how to respond. He’d never really given his launch set up much thought. It was the fastest way to the hangar and, if he was being honest, was kind of fun.

“But… isn’t that dangerous? What if you miss?” Tycho looked at him with very real concern on his face.

“Then I go flying off over the front of Thunderbird 2 and bounce off the windscreen,” Virgil chuckled, unsure what to make of this concern. “But so far, six years in and I’ve never missed.”

“Six years?” Tycho exclaimed. “No wonder your biceps are the size of my head if you’re swinging about from that nearly every day!”

Virgil blushed, his face heating up almost uncomfortably at Tycho’s comment.

“Well… I mean, it’s not just that. I work out and… We’re getting side tracked. It’s perfectly safe, really. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”

Tycho eyed him sceptically.

“If you say so. Personally I don’t think I could do it. Far too scary for me.”

“It is at first. The first time my dad got me to stand on it and it flipped over, I screamed the entire way down. Everyone had a good laugh at me. That was before the handles. It just plonked me straight into the seat back then. It was great until I broke my tailbone doing it!” Virgil chuckled fondly. Jeff had been so worried and upset that his design had gone wrong. The handles had been Virgil’s own idea, and not one that Jeff particularly liked, but went with as it worked. ‘For review’, he’d said with a stern look on his face.

“That does not sound pleasant,” Tycho empathised. “Well, whatever works for you, I guess.” He clapped his hands together and turned to the control console.

“Now, let’s get under this baby’s skin, shall we?”

Virgil smiled at his enthusiasm.

“With pleasure.”

*-*-*

Half an hour later and all of the console housing was off, exposing the wiring and circuitry underneath which facilitated the controls.

Tycho let out a whistle

“She is a beauty,” he remarked, getting closer to have a look at the wiring surrounding the grapple release bar. “Did Brains input all of this himself? The soldering isn’t machined.”

“Actually, that was me. I upgraded all of the circuit boards after we found a few failing. It’s only been in a few months.”

“You did this all yourself? What guiding did you use? Do you use photo references or is there a circuit map around?”

“Well, there is a circuit map, but I have a photographic memory with great recall. Plus, I have a masters in electrical engineering so if I do them piece meal, I don’t have an issue.”

Tycho regarded Virgil with a sly smile.

“A genius and good looking? There has to be a catch,” he grinned, moving his attention back to the console.

Virgil felt the heat rising in his cheeks once more, a jolt of attraction leaping through him. He hadn’t flirted with anyone in years, and he’d forgotten how nice it could be.

“Ah, yes, there it is. Messy soldering on that seven panel there,” Tycho tutted, folding his arms in mock dismay.

“What? Where,” Virgil demanded, the warmth he’d felt a moment ago draining from him. He was somewhat of a perfectionist with the ship, and took his time to make sure that everything was perfect. He shimmied in next to Tycho, vaguely aware how close they were to each other now.

Sure enough, inside the panel at the back near the foot controls, a number seven plate with a bubbled solder.

“What? Shit, how did I miss that? Damn it. Added to my list to fix later.”

“Oh, it’ll hold, there’s no need to do it again. In fact, it’s probably more stable that way, attached to the board twice, as it were.”

“But it looks bad. I can’t have my baby looking bad,” Virgil half whined, annoyed at himself.

“It works. That’s the important thing. Looks are fleeting. Functionality is where it matters.”

“Coming from you, I’ll take that as gospel,” Virgil chuckled. Tycho grinned back, gazing with that almost reverential look again.

It seemed to strike both of them at the same time how close they were now they’d stood up, only a few inches between their faces, eyes locked on each other’s, just taking in the moment as they both broke eye contact and took a step back at the same time, both letting out an awkward chuckle.

“But this is incredibly impressive. I’m told the button press start up sequence security measure was your idea as well. Very smart.”

Virgil grinned.

“To be honest, I saw it in a film from the 2010’s. Thought it was a great idea. Trialled it, it worked, so I presented it to Brains and he approved.”

“So Brains makes the final design decisions on all the ships?”

Virgil felt a chill run down his spine.

_Invasive questions, he wants something from you. It’s going to end the same. Get out. Get out now!_

His posture must have stiffened as Tycho was back next to him in a moment.

“Are you okay? You’re incredibly tense,” he raised as hand as if he wanted to touch Virgil on the shoulder, but thought better of it.

Virgil nodded, but the anxiety crawling up his body like a vine disagreed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The ambient noise around him had suddenly got very loud; the extractor fans of the warehouse, the water pump for the tank where Thunderbird 4 was currently docked, it was all suddenly magnified.

 _Breathe,_ he reminded himself.

He took a heaving breath, sending his head spinning again.

As he tried to regain some control over his senses, he felt pressure on his arm, guiding him into his usual flight seat, gentle but firm grip reassuring.

Opening his eyes, he tried to register what was going on, waiting for the haze to clear.

 _Breathe. In and out. Keep going. Everything’s ok. It’s all ok,_ he told himself, again and again as he resisted the urge to raise his hands to his head and block everything out.

“Virgil?” Tycho’s voice cut through the haze sharply. “Are you okay? Do you need to me get someone?”

“No,” Virgil croaked, another wave of anxiety rushing over him; if Scott knew he was having attacks again, he’d call a flight review. And that was _not_ going to help.

“Are you sure? You might be out of it for a while. Seems like a bad one.”

Virgil chuckled mirthlessly.

“No-where near as bad as my worst.”

Tycho frowned at him.

“This can wait. You need to rest up. There’s no point pushing you through this,” he stated. But Virgil was stubbornly shaking his head.

“No, I’m, I’m fine, honestly. Just… give me a minute.”

Tycho regarded him sceptically but nodded, removing his hands and backing off. Virgil took another couple of deep breaths, the shaking in his limbs subsiding.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, dropping his head a little as the rushing noise began to fade and the guilt and shame flooded his system. “I didn’t… I don’t.”

“You don’t have to explain,” Tycho smiled, crouching down next to Virgil, laying one hand on his thigh. “I get them too, the panic attacks. They’re… well when I get them now, they’re awful. I’m just sorry if something I said triggered it.”

Virgil regarded his hand and looked to him with a soft smile.

“It’s not your fault. It’s…” he paused, unsure if he wanted to take this route. This was a divergence, a decision to be made. “It’s a lot of stuff from the past which is entirely not your fault and… it’s just been at the forefront of my mind for a few days.”

Tycho nodded, a solemn look on his face.

“Well, if you ever want to go through the past stuff, I may not be a professor of psychology but I am a good listener,” he offered.

Virgil regarded him with a tired smile.

“Thanks, Tycho.”

The professor smiled as a blush rose to his face. He stood back to his full height, removing his hand as he did so. Virgil shuddered a little at the temperature change, chastising himself for missing the contact.

“Any time. And don’t feel like you have to press through with this. Scott warned me you might be tired. How long were you awake for? 46 hours? That can’t be healthy.”

Virgil shrugged as he shifted in his seat, moving to stand up.

“Part of the job. We’re 24/7, 365. No breaks for us!”

“That sounds exhausting,” Tycho exclaimed. “I don’t know how I’d cope without my sanity breaks to Papa Westray every year.”

“Papa who now?” Virgil asked. He’d heard of most places in the world, but this one was new.

“Papa Westray. Small island, part of the Shetlands above Scotland. Quaint little place, takes you less than a minute to fly there on a plane from the island of Westray, and you get a certificate!”

There was a fondness in Tycho’s voice which made him even more endearing to Virgil, who couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. When he’d heard ‘island’, he’d been thinking somewhere sunny and warm. But Scotland?

“Sounds cold,” he chuckled.

“Oh but that’s the best part!” Tycho gestured in his animated manner.

“It is?”

“Yes! You get to start a nice log fire indoors, curl up with a hot chocolate and some cosy socks on, it’s amazing.”

Virgil pondered this for a moment.

“That does actually sound really nice,” he admitted, the thought of an actual fire was somewhat appealing.

Tycho suddenly coughed as if he’d caught something in his throat, his face bright red as he turned away.

“You okay?” Virgil asked.

“F-Fine, fine,” Tycho assured him. “Just got a frog in my throat.”

The two men smile at each other, a beat of comfortable silence between them as they both regarded the stripped down console.

“You should come with me sometime. To Papa Westray, I mean,” Tycho blurted out a bit too fast, as if he’d been contemplating not saying it. “It’s the perfect place to get away and clear your head, if you wanted to.”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile at the blush lighting up the scientist’s face.

“Yeah… if I could wrangle some time. I’d like that.”

“Brilliant,” Tycho beamed. His smile dropped a little as he looked around the cockpip. “Now where do you want to go from here? I’m serious about not pressing you on this. If you need rest, you need rest.”

Virgil took a moment of self-examination, finding the rushing and buzzing of the anxiety attack clouding his mind had more or less cleared.

“There’s no point in you coming all the way here and us getting this far to give up now. Let’s keep going. If it does get too much, I’ll let you know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Tycho smiled gratefully.

“Thank you. Now, where do we start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so glad people are enjoying this!
> 
> What started as a simple idea has spiralled into something bigger which I'm loving writing. Will try and keep updates frequent (if not daily)!
> 
> Note about Papa Westray, yes it's real (and a lovely place to visit) and you do get a certificate for taking the little tin can plane over there as it is the shortest chartered flight in the world, just under a minute! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sh*t gets real!
> 
> Depictions of injuries and lots of drama. Hold onto your butts!

03:34.

The angry red letters shone across the room as Virgil lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

After nearly 4 hours of taking apart the console for examinations and reinstalling it all (as well as a near call out which had them scrambling to fit it all back together), he and Tycho had managed to come up for 4 pages of enhancement suggestions for the console.

They had both called that a success and gone back up to the lounge for dinner and a scolding from Grandma for missing lunch.

They wolfed down their food, still eagerly discussing their ideas and presenting them to a very interested Brains once he put in an appearance, finally finishing up by 9pm and turning in after a hectic day.

After 4 and half hours sleep, Virgil’s body had apparently had enough and would not allow him the privilege of any more.

But tonight, he didn’t mind as much as he replayed in his head the conversations, jokes and anecdotes he and Tycho had shared. Tycho’s smile, the dimple on his left cheek when he grinned enthusiastically, how his eyes sparkled with amusement, how dexterous his hands were with the delicate circuitry inside 2 kept running through his mind.

Virgil let out a contented sigh.

He had been expecting his anxiety to come flooding back any moment, but after 15 minutes of waiting, he’d been pleasantly surprised to find it was no-where to be found.

Relaxing back into his plush mattress with a sigh, he was actually beginning to drift once more, with pleasant thoughts swimming in his head, the promise of dreams and rest calling to him when a dull red light flashed in his room a moment before a low, howling siren sounded.

“Shit,” Virgil jumped, caught off guard for a moment before he leapt out of bed wearing nothing, searching around for some clean-ish clothes that could survive under the rescue suit.

He would definitely be going out. John only used the island alert in serious emergencies where they would all be needed.

Pulling on underwear, a tight fitting black v neck and jeans, he hastily made his way down to the lounge.

On arrival, he found a disgruntled looking Scott conversing with John’s holographic form. Gordon and Alan were leaning into each other, almost asleep again on the two seater of the conversation pit, Kayo looking across at them from one of 3’s launch chairs with a sympathetic look on her face and MAX had just whirred into the room, followed by a dishevelled Brains and a panicked looking Tycho who was still shirtless, a t-shirt in his hands.

Virgil tried not to stare at the pale expanse of skin on display as Tycho desperately tried to dress himself on the move.

“Grandma’s gone to reset the alarm,” Scott explained in a tired voice. “John’s been giving me a brief but he explains it better.” He gestured to John’s floating holographic form who rolled his eyes before bringing up detailed map of Iceland.

“This is Iceland. The Krafla volcano on the north east of the island has just suffered a massive eruption. 75 of locals need to be evacuated as stage one. Virgil, this should be your task. Evacuate as many as possible, closest to the eruption zone first. Scott, you’re stage two. Flights in the air are at risk of their engines becoming clogged with volcanic ash and we’re seeing it as high as the upper atmosphere right now. You need to be in contact with CATCH, diverting and helping those in danger. Gordon, stage three, there’s an underwater platform for the Icelandic Deep Drilling project around half a mile underneath the sea-fed lake next to the volcano that’s been compromised and is flooding. There are six crew members trapped inside, you need to get them out. Alan, ash is affecting space communications with two Russian satellites and we believe there has been a collision. We need you to investigate. Kayo, you’ll need to go to for support. Brains, we need up to date information on what is happening with weather patterns. Can you, MAX and EOS work together on this?”

“Of c-course, John.”

“Good, everyone else got it?”

A chorus of “FAB” echoed around the room as everyone ran to their launch stations.

Virgil tried not to pay too much attention to the butterflies that erupted in his stomach as he caught sight of Tycho’s sly smile as his launch pad flipped him into the delivery tube.

*-*-*-*

Two and half hours since arrival on scene and the locals were all out and accounted for but that was just the beginning.

Scott had been circling around the ash cloud in constant contact with CATCH in an attempt to stop any planes getting caught in the ash cloud as the other brothers did their parts to ensure no soul in need of help was left behind.

Alan and Kayo were already back home, the call regarding the station collisions thankfully only a near miss, leaving Thunderbird 3 in reserve.

John was checking in every 15 minutes with updates as they all followed his carefully laid out plan.

Virgil was setting Thunderbird 2 down with his final load of frightened but safe passengers near Reykjavik when the comm flashed up from 5 with another update.

“Gordon’s just confirmed he’s got the last crew member from the drill project,” he informed them all across the frequency. “He’s going to move along the coast to avoid any seismic activity which might follow and wait for a rendezvous with Thunderbird 2.”

“FAB John,” Virgil confirmed. “I’m dropping the last load of locals off then I can go and meet him.”

“Okay,” John said shortly, looking distracted for a second. “Hold that thought, Virgil. Got another call coming in.”

“Guys, I’ve got to go, there’s a non-responsive plane heading straight into the ash cloud,” Scott cut across the broadcast. “Going to see if I can divert them.”

“FAB Scott,” John confirmed as the line to 1 cut off. “Virgil, you might be able to pick this up. We’re getting reports of a small group of what appear to be tourists close to the original eruption site. Apparently they don’t seem to have any gear with them but have been spotted cut off by lava flows. By all accounts, they haven’t got much time from what I’m reading here.”

“How long?” Virgil asked, a rush of concern running through him. It would take at least two minutes to empty the people in the cargo hold.

“You’re looking at 15 minutes, tops,” John replied, real worry in his voice. “But the sooner you get there, the better.

“Got it. I’m instructing everyone in the module out now and I’ll head straight off. The GDF can handle these guys from here.”

“Roger that.”

With an instruction over the speaker system in the module, Virgil opened the door and let the people inside out into the care of the GDF as quickly as possible before prepping to head back.

“Thunderbird 5, I’m on my way to collect the stranded tourists now,” he informed John, waiting for a response. There was a crackle on the comm and the indicator turned orange.

“Ash must be affecting comms,” he murmured, running through his pre-flights as quickly as possible. Within minutes, he was back in the sky, following the pre-programmed co-ordinates John had sent prior to the comms issues.

The ash cloud was thick, limiting his field of view.

“Damn this stuff sucks,” he muttered, activating his infra-red holo-projection of the area. Within moments, he located the group of four tourists who were huddled, barely visible on the scanner due to the heat of the lava slowly closing in on them.

“John, you there?” he asked as he activated the comm again. The speaker crackled again but John didn’t appear. “Scott? Gordon? Anyone?”

Silence.

Well that wasn’t good. The content of the ash must have been affecting the communications more than they thought.

He knew he couldn’t waste any more time. They were likely working on a fix right now, and he had a job to do.

Putting 2 into hover mode far enough above the tourists to ensure they weren’t affected by the downdraft, he moved to the access hatch at the back of the cockpit, sliding down into the module and prepping the seating rig for another run.

Hopping onto the edge of the seating rig, he tensioned the cable from his remote wrist control and retracted the rails for Thunderbird four before giving the order to slide the access hatch on the underneath of the pod.

A wave of heated air from the magma below rushed in through the hatch, Virgil’s breath catching in his throat.

“Fuck,” he coughed as he blinked through the tears now forming in his eyes from the heat. This really was bad.

He activated the winch and lowered the seating rig downwards slowly, the cries from the people below now audible as they realized help had arrived.

Within moments, he was on the rocky outcrop, bubbling magma on all sides.

“Thank goodness you’re here!” he heard a female voice cry out as the woman, two men and a young girl ran towards them.

“We thought we were done for!” one of the men half sobbed.

“Thank yous can wait,” Virgil urged. “Everyone get on. Is this all of you?”

“Yes,” the second man answered as he buckled himself in, his Icelandic accent strong. “There were other groups but they made it to the evacuation points.”

“Great,” Virgil gave a reassuring smile to the young girl as he checked her harness for movement. “Right, hold on, we’re going up,” he instructed, jumping onto the end seat and hanging onto the frame as the rig began to rise back towards Thunderbird 2. “Everything’s going to be…”

He was cut off by a sudden rumbling below them. A huge bubble of magma suddenly burst and spurted upwards, sending the boiling liquid towards them.

Virgil heard screaming and saw flashes of light, then a burning sensation engulfed his left arm where it was looped around the metal frame. A weightlessness overtook him as the pain seared, and too late, he realised he was falling.

As he impacted the hard rock below him, his thoughts drifted to his brothers and his ship, and he idly wondered if any of his brothers knew where he kept the circuit blueprints to Thunderbird 2 before he fell unconscious.

*-*-*-*

“Keep trying, EOS. He’s got to be there,” John gritted his teeth as he gave the instruction.

Thunderbird 2 hadn’t checked in and the comms seemed down and now the ash was messing with the 3d imaging scanners on board.

“Scott, I’m sending you the co-ordinates of the trapped tourists. He’s got to be there, he wouldn’t leave them.”

“FAB, on my way now,” Scott’s voice crackled through the radio.

“God fucking damn shit,” John cursed once the comm line was down. He was exhausted. He’d been monitoring the situation since yesterday and now, 40 hours in, he was ready to throw in the towel, even though he knew he couldn’t.

“Any sign, EOS?” he sighed, turning to the AI’s camera lens as it circled round the green dots, indicating she was processing.

“The high mineral content of the volcanic ash is impairing the onboard sensors. I can’t get a clear picture. I’m sorry, John,” the AI replied.

“It’s okay EOS. I’m just concerned. Virgil could be in trouble and we couldn’t know.”

“I understand. You care for your siblings. Their safety is paramount on any mission,” she responded.

“Exactly,” John muttered, wondering if drinking his eight coffee in six hours was a good idea or not. He was about to go to the replicator when an emergency z-band broadcast came through.

“John, oh fuck, Virgil, he’s there, he’s hurt. Fuck, fuck!” Scott sounded more panicked than John had ever heard him before.

“Scott? What, what’s happening?”

“He’s face down on the ground, it looks like he fell off the rig, the tourists are onboard 2 but the pod is still open. Shit, John, shit!”

“Scott, you need to keep calm,” John snapped, jumping into action and taking remote control of Thunderbird 2. He instructed the module hatch to close and set the auto-pilot. “I’m remoting 2 to a safe location. Can you get to him?”

“I… fuck, if… when 2 is out of the way, yes.”

“Moving now. You should be able to get down to him now.”

“F-FAB John.”

“Scott, keep calm and keep me updated, okay?”

Silence fell as Scott moved to the cargo doors of Thunderbird one and attached the on-board stretcher and his suit to the winch platform.

*-*-*-*

The thoughts swirling around Scott’s mind as the winch descended slower than he’d ever experienced before all followed the same pattern.

_He’s dead. He’s not moving. He’s dead. Oh god, Virgil’s dead._

Looking down at the broken body of his brother below, face down on the rocky outcrop, tears welled in his eyes.

What was he going to do? What were they going to do? He couldn’t be dead, they’ve all been injured before but they can’t die, can they?

Finally, the stretcher hit the ground with a loud clang and he unhitched himself, sprinting towards Virgil’s body.

“Virgil!” he all but screamed. “Virg, please, oh fuck,” he sobbed, tears streaming down his face now as he approached, taking in the scorched left arm of his uniform, the skin angry red and bubbling where the suit had burnt away, the twisted angle of his right leg and the pool of blood around his forehead.

“Virgil, please,” he pleaded. “Fuck, oh fuck no!” He gingerly laid his hands onto his brother’s neck and head, keeping it steady as he rolled him onto his back, wincing as the motion revealed a deep gash to his forehead, seeping blood at a steady rate.

The motion also caused a sickening popping sound in his bent leg, the sound of the bones popping back into place.

Virgil’s face suddenly screwed up in pain and he let out a whimpering moan.

“Oh shit, Virgil,” Scott cried, relief washing over him like a flash flood. “You’re alive, you’re alive!” He was rambling, adrenaline taking over when he heard a reassuring voice in his ear.

“Glad to hear he’s alive, Scott, but neither of you will be if you don’t move soon.”

“F-FAB John, oh god, this is bad though,” he stammered, looking Virgil up and down. He was in a bad way.

Pulling the stretcher close, Scott slid it underneath him, using the transfer sheets on the stretcher to move him into position and cover him up as much as possible before fastening him to the board.

Clipping himself back onto the winch cable, Scott activated the pulley system and they were hoisted back up into Thunderbird 1.

Securing the stretcher in position, he jumped back towards the pilot’s seat, hands still shaking, thoughts still racing.

“John, where are we going?” he asked sharply.

“Liverpool Emergency centre, Sydney.”

“On it,” Scott confirmed, punching the throttle and taking off. “Now we’re on board can EOS access his vitals?” Scott asked through tears, looking back to Virgil’s battered form.

“EOS?” John asked.

“Confirmed,” she responded almost instantly, bringing up a holo-display in front of John.

“Blood pressure is 80/50, showing multiple fractures and third degree burns… This… just hurry, Scott,” John urged, fear suddenly gripping him.

“I am,” Scott swallowed hard, fighting back another wave of tears and they shot across the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos, it means the world!  
> Back to work tomorrow but I still have a couple of chapters in reserve.
> 
> I'm just wanting to keep ahead, so writing might slow down a bit but I'm loving writing this at the moment and have it all planned out.
> 
> If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it!
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions! Hospitals! It's not quite Holby City, but it's close!

Lights, masks, sterile smells, the familiar beep of monitors and pain were all an assault on Virgil’s senses as a fleeting haze of conscious images swam before his eyes.

Panic gripped his chest as he tried to sit up, confused and disorientated.

“Mr Tracy, you need to stay still,” a soft female voice urged. “We’re prepping you for surgery.”

“Surgery?” Virgil slurred.

“Virgil? Is he awake? Let me see him, please!” he heard Scott’s pleas as the room slipped from view into darkness once more.

*-*-*-*

Virgil had never been great with the idea of pain.

As a child, he would scream when his father tried to remove splinters from his fingers after woodworking sessions went wrong and feel embarrassed and ashamed afterwards when he realized it didn’t hurt at all.

Actual pain, the dealing with it, he could handle particularly well, or so he thought.

But the searing pain that tore through his body now was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

Letting out a sharp grunt, he tried to move, only to find his legs weren’t responding. Looking down on himself, he found one held in position by a brace, the other by an arm belonging to Scott who was currently draped across the hospital bed, snoring lightly.

Wait… hospital…

He looked around, taking in his surroundings. They were in a private room in what was definitely a hospital, judging by the people moving backwards and forwards past the small window in the door to the room. Taking a deep breath, he cast his eyes onto his body to assess himself. He let out a soft gasp as he gazed as his right hand, a cannula in the top of it; he hated those damn things.

Looking to his left arm, he found a swath of white bandages. The skin underneath ached badly. He briefly remembered the lava splashing up from the stream and wondered if he had been hit.

Wires protruded from under the plain white hospital gown he was currently wear, attached to his chest at various points, feeding a constant stream of information to the machines behind him.

He began to notice pain everywhere; his knee, his head where it throbbed on the right hand side, his arm getting worse…

Letting out another pained grunt, he tried to shift himself, letting out a hiss as he accidently moved too much for the drip attached to the cannula to follow and the needle pulled under his skin.

A wave of nausea hit him as he leant back into the plush pillows behind him and he closed his eyes, trying to process rational thoughts as the memory of pain and the recall of the sensation of falling returned to him and overwhelmed his senses.

He whimpered softly, feeling the panic rise up inside him, mildly aware that the beeping of the machine he was linked into becoming faster, more urgent sounding as his heart raced and his breathing became shallower.

The haze of panic was beginning to overtake him when the door to the private room opened up, causing him to jump a little as it caught him off guard and a woman entered the room. She looked up from the data pad she was carrying and gave a short smile when she saw him awake, looking to Scott still sleeping soundly on the end of the bed as she closed the door as quietly as she could.

“Mr Tracy,” she half whispered, mindful of Scott. “Glad to see you’re back with us,” she remarked in a strong Australian accent.

Virgil watched her as she approached; she was blonde, long hair up in a bun with bangs framing her kind face, dressed in standard blue scrubs which tightened over a very pregnant stomach.

“Yeah, just getting there. Just… getting my bearings.”

The woman nodded, giving another smile as she moved past Virgil’s line of sight and to the machines behind him. He wasn’t sure what she did, but was grateful when the urgent beeping stopped.

“I can imagine it’s quite a shock. You’ve been through a lot, love,” she said thoughtfully as she moved back to his view, scrolling through notes on the data pad. “You’ve been out for about 53 hours. It’s pretty much the body’s usual reaction to shock.”

“Oh,” was all Virgil could say as he processed the information. Almost 3 days out of it? That was a long time. A lump formed in his throat as he struggled to keep up.

“So… what happened?” he croaked. The nurse gave a sympathetic smile as she pressed a couple of times on the data pad before coming to perch next to him on the bed. He absent-mindedly caught a glimpse of the name badge pinned to her scrubs. ‘Caiti’.

His gaze moved back to the data pad she now moved into his view. On screen were links to a couple of x-rays and some files.

“You’re more than welcome to go through the details,” she offered, “but the short of it is, impact laceration to the right side of your forehead causing bruising to the bone, a moderate concussion which seems to have mostly cleared up, bruised ribs on your right side, dislocated right patella and a mild fracture caused by the traumatic re-location on scene. You’ve also had a successful keyhole knee surgery to reattach a floating tendon and the joint has responded well to ultrasonic vibration therapies which have successfully convinced the nerves to reattach and dispelled most of the fluid build-up. The brace is just for muscle stabilization while we assess your recovery,” she explained, gesturing to the thigh to foot brace his right leg currently rested in.

Virgil just nodded, numbly, staring at the screen, unable to string a sentence together.

Caiti looked at him with a hint of concern but didn’t push him.

“You’ve also suffered third degree burns in two sections of your arm. We’ve managed to add a specialist burn gel to the skin and reduce the swelling a lot but it’s still going to need to be dressed daily and kept clean for a few more days.”

“Uh huh,” Virgil managed, tears beginning to prick in his eyes. He was fighting so hard he didn’t notice Caiti’s hand come to rest on his good arm until he was staring at it.

“Hey, it’s okay to be overwhelmed. Like I said, this was a lot. You’re going to make a full recovery but it doesn’t make it any easier right now. It’s okay.”

Virgil swallowed hard past the lump, trying to gain some control over his racing thoughts.

“Okay,” he whimpered, tears beginning to spill over onto his cheeks. Caiti had a look on her face like she just wanted to wrap him up in a hug.

“If it helps, at all,” she said softly, “everyone here is fighting over looking after you. You’re a bit of a celebrity.”

This caught Virgil a little by surprise, drawing his thoughts away from the mess of emotion running through his mind, and a small smile tugged at his lips, unbidden.

“That’s dumb,” he said a little flatly, his filter not quite up and functioning yet.

Caiti let out a soft laugh, eyeing Scott as she did so, concerned about waking him up.

“No, really!” she chuckled, “I think I only got to come in here because no-one is willing to fist fight a pregnant woman and I’m willing to go all out!”

Virgil snorted with laughter. Okay, that image was funny, he had to admit.

“But why? We’re just regular guys. Seriously.”

“Seriously?” Caiti gave him and incredulous look. “How many times do you think we get to treat _magma_ burns? You’ve sorted about six of the student’s medical dissertations already. And Thunderbird 1 is parked on top of the hospital do you have _any_ idea how cool that is to us normal folk?”

Virgil couldn’t fight the smile that crossed his face.

“I’m glad that we could assist,” he grinned with a hint of sarcasm. Caiti returned his smile before becoming a little more serious.

“But seriously,” she continued, tone more demure, “you’re heroes. All of you. And I…” she ran a hand over her swollen stomach thoughtfully. “I know it’s totally unprofessional, and I’m sorry but… two years ago, you saved my dad from a building collapse in the outback where he was part of a drilling expedition. In a couple of months, he’s going to be meeting his first grandchild, who’s going to grow up with a grandfather, and three months after that, he’s going to be there to walk me down the aisle as I marry the love of my life, and none of that would have been possible without you. You literally saved my world,” she sniffed a little, emotion cracking her voice. “I’m sorry, I know this is totally dumb.”

He tears were welling back in Virgil’s eyes.

“No, no,” he insisted. “Thank you. Really. It’s nice to see the long term of what we do. It’s…” Virgil hissed as a shot of pain went through his entire body, emanating from his leg. “Fuck,” he gasped, his whole body twitching.

The movement and his gasp of pain was enough to rouse Scott, who suddenly shot up from the end of the bed.

“Virgil!” he half shouted, bleary eyed and disorientated as he looked around the room, eyes snapping to Virgil’s as he regained his senses. There was immediately concern on his face as he registered the pain in his expression. “Virg, you’re awake, you’re ok!” he remarked, standing up and moving to the bedside, offering his hand to his younger brother who took it and squeezed, looking for comfort.

The other side of the bed, Caiti was fiddling with another machine, pressing some buttons and moving a wire. Moments later, Virgil felt a cold sensation rising and spreading out from his lower back, like someone had tipped ice water onto him.

“What… cold,” he managed, the sensation weirding him out.

“I’ve given you a boost of pain anaesthetic,” Caiti explained, handing him a wire with a small button attached. The pain in your leg will be quite severe for a couple of days. You had an epidural to keep you numb during the operation and we’ve been changing it daily and keeping your dosage up. It automatically dispenses every hour but you can top up every 20 minutes if you need to by pressing this button,” she gestured to the small illuminated red button on the cable she had handed him. “It will light up green when it’s ready to go again.”

Virgil nodded, noting how the cold sensation spread down to his leg and numbed the area.

“Is that why I can’t move my legs?” Virgil asked, a note of fear in his voice.

“Yes. Once the epidural is out, you’ll regain full movement within a few hours,” she assured him. “Uh, Mr Tracy,” she addressed Scott now who looked at her, sleep still clouding his eyes. “When you’ve got a moment, could I speak to you outside about the ongoing care regime we’re putting in place?”

Virgil looked inquisitively between the two of them as Caiti moved to wait outside in the corridor.

“See you for your checks later, Mr Tracy,” she smiled at him as she slipped back out the door.

As soon as it was shut, Scott looked back to Virgil and moved in to wrap his arms around him, wary of his bandaged arm. Virgil returned the hug as best as he could, aware of the sob Scott let out as he buried his face in his brother’s neck.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again, you hear?” Scott mumbled, his chest heaving.

Virgil took a shuddering breath, leaning into his brother’s embrace.

“No promises,” he grinned, his pain no ebbing away thanks to the drugs boost kicking in.

Scott chuckled softly and pulled back, eyes brimming with tears as he looked over his younger brother.

“There was a moment when… god, I saw you laying there and I just…” he looked away, unable to continue.

“I-I’m sorry,” Virgil stammered, guilt washing over him.

“No, no, it’s not your fault. It was… it happens. Just not to us. And I was so scared. If John hadn’t have… I can’t…”

“Scott,” Virgil said softly. He just wanted to get up, to hug Scott, to show him he was okay, even if that wasn’t entirely true.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be… I’m just so glad you’re ok,” Scott smiled through his tears, wiping roughly at his face. “Listen, I’m going to go see what that nurse wanted to handover for me and… I’ll be back. Okay?”

Virgil nodded, a deep tiredness washing over him again as the nausea and pain faded to almost nothing.

“We’ll get you home as soon as we can.”

“FAB,” Virgil smiled as Scott moved to slip out the door. As the door shut, Virgil sank back into the pillows with a sigh.

Even after three days out of it, he felt exhausted. It was only moments until sleep overtook him once more.

*-*-*-*

The nurse with the kind face was waiting with a large data pad and a smile when Scott made it outside, closing the door gently. She watched him as he peered back through the window of the door, heaving a sigh before turning to face her.

“Mr Tracy,” she offered her hand. “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Caiti, I’m Virgil’s primary care consultant here at the Liverpool,” she explained, giving Scott’s hand a firm shake as he responded to her offer.

“Nice to meet you Caiti. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’re doing for him. None of us can.”

Caiti smiled sweetly and glanced at the door.

“It’s the least we can do, honestly, after all you all do for the world.”

Scott smiled tiredly. After all they did for others, hearing praise over criticism was always nice.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, distracted for a moment. “So he’s stable now?” he returned to their original discussion.

“Yes, he’s recovering remarkably well. The ultrasonic treatments have stopped any nerve damage and the medi-foam has healed most of the external injuries. The only thing we can’t help with is the muscle strain,” she explained, bringing up a moving image of an MRI scan on the data pad screen and handing it to Scott. “When Virgil’s leg dislocated on impact, it pulled the linked muscles badly and completely severed a large tendon. The surgery has reconnected it successfully but it’s still going to take a while to heal, and he’s going to be in physio for at least three months.”

“Three months?” Scott asked, shocked. He knew that there would be a recovery period but three months was a long time for them to be without Virgil at 100%.

“That’s the best case scenario, if no further surgery is needed, which we’ll only know once he’s had a couple of weeks to heal.”

Scott shook his head, mind rushing with all of the things he needed to arrange, rearrange and look into.

“And there’s no way to speed this up? How mobile is he going to be?”

Caiti frowned, her demeanour suddenly changing.

“Mr Tracy, the healing process is not one you can rush. If Virgil is pushed into physical situations before he is completely healed, he could re-injure his knee and cause permanent damage which could leave him seriously physically impaired for the rest of his life,” she explained shortly. “If this is going to be a problem, we _will_ have him medically signed off and make it illegal for him to work.”

A flash of anger rose up in Scott for a brief moment, but the image of Virgil, face down and motionless on that rock shot back through his mind and he acquiesced.

“No, I understand. That won’t be necessary. I just… how long does a full recovery usually take? I need to know how long to keep him out of action for. You know he’s going to protest this as well, don’t you?”

Caiti eyed him uneasily and forced a smile.

“He can ignore medical advice if he so chooses, but he will be making an informed decision,” she sighed, taking the data pad back from Scott and opening a couple of files.

“We’ll get him up with crutches hopefully today to assess his mobility. It’s likely he’ll be able to partially weight bear on it immediately and build up from there. He’ll also be given a flexible knee brace and some pressure bands to help keep the fluid around the joints from building up and will move onto a specialist flexible knee brace after his next session. If everything goes well and there are no extra concerns or actions needed with his knee after the secondary assessment, he’ll be looking at around six months for a full recovery.”

“Six months?” Scott asked, concerned. This really was serious.

“It’s important to understand that once a knee ligament is damaged, it’s possible that it may never return to normal. And due to this being an instance of trauma causing the dislocation, it’s possible that is may re-occur,” Caiti continued. “It can take as long as a year to fully recover from a dislocation. It’s about Virgil re-learning his boundaries and what he is comfortable doing.”

Scott nodded numbly, wondering how they were going to cope. This was going to be a decision they would all have to make together.

“I understand. Thank you for your help,” he sighed, looking back to the door.

“You’re more than welcome, Mr Tracy,” she smiled.

“Please, call me Scott,” he offered with a weak smile. She grinned back at him.

“You’re welcome, Scott,” she chirped, looking back at the data pad. “We’ll be taking a couple of more blood samples to check for any infection risk markers and removing the epidural and other attachments within the next couple of hours. After that we’ll get him on his feet and do an assessment. Providing that goes well, we will sort out his pain management medication and he’ll be ready to go home,” she smiled.

Scott felt a wave of relief wash over him at the mention of home.

“I was about to ask. That’s a relief,” he said softly, looking back towards the door. “Am I okay to wait with him?”

“Of course,” Caiti smiled. “He’s likely resting, which is good, but if either of you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. Oh, there was one more thing,” she remembered, bringing up the data pad onto an input screen. “We will need to send electronic notifications regarding his appointments somewhere. Do you have a contact number or electronic address we can use?”

Scott smiled, grabbing the data pad when offered and inputting his electronic details.

“You sure you don’t just want my number?” Scott winked as he handed the data pad back to Caiti, who raised an eyebrow and put her free hand on her hip, gesturing with the data pad to her huge stomach.

“Okay, okay, just kidding,” he smiled. “I respect the fact you’re married to your work,” he grinned. Caiti smiled and batted his arm with the back of the data pad.

“That and my soon to be wife could literally crush your head between her thighs.”

Scott was caught between being terrified and insatiably curious, and it must have shown.

“She deadlifts. It’s impressive. You should come check out our gym somtime,” she chuckled. “Now I think your brother would like you to be with him,” she gestured to Virgil’s room. “Again, if you need anything, give me a shout,”.

“Will do,” Scott smiled, turning to move back to the room. “Oh and Caiti, thanks again.”

“You’re more than welcome,” she smiled over her shoulder, waving as she waddled down the corridor to her other patients.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions running high and depictions of short, intense panic attacks.

Considering how bad the injury had been, Virgil passed his assessment with flying colours. Once the epidural had been removed and had worn off to the point he could feel his legs again, (something that when the pain returned, he was not too happy about), he was assisted by an attending orthotist to mobilise again with the help of arm crutches.

He glared at the crutches with disdain at first, but after putting pressure on his leg and feeling the shooting pain that came with it, he reluctantly agreed to try the crutches and was able to complete the walking assessments they gave him, even with the burns on his arm causing some pain, although the burn gel seemed to be doing its job.

After some more pulling his leg around, pushing and twisting of his knee, the doctors signed him off and Caiti popped by once more to wish them well and officially discharge him.

Virgil point blank refused to use the wheelchair offered to get him up to the roof, instead insisting on using his crutches the entire way up. It was all Scott could do to convince him to use the elevators instead of the stairs.

If there was one place Virgil fell down, it was the constant need to prove himself to those who doubted his ability.

Maybe it was the high expectations Jeff had put on all of them to excel in whatever field he deemed suitable for them, or the constant feeling of competition that came with having four other siblings, but Virgil had always been out to prove he could do everything passed his way, continuing to struggle on even when he should have given up. He always got the job done, but not always without risking parts of himself in the process, be it his sanity, his physical ability or his life.

Scott pondered this as they made it to the roof and he watched him hobble along on the crutches towards Thunderbird 1.

Virgil had paused, taken a deep breath, then continued back towards the ship, waiting impatiently for Scott to open the cargo hold and lower the seating rig which was now his only choice as the ladders were not do-able in his currently state.

The fifteen-minute flight back home was spent mostly in silence, with the occasional checking in from John and Scott asking if Virgil was okay much too often.

Not that Virgil minded that much. It was nice to be thought of, after all.

But an exasperated “yes, Scott, I’m _fine_ ,” seemed to placate him about half way through the flight.

Scott forwent the usual vertical landing to drop Virgil off at the end of the pool near the lowered Helipads, lowering him in the seating rig down to his brothers and Grandma waiting below.

As he gingerly stood up and began to move on his crutches, he was surrounded by his family, all arguing over who got to hug him first. It was almost enough to bring a smile to his face through the pain as he quickly explained he needed to take his pain medication before he passed out from lack of it.

They had all quickly backed off and run up to clear his path and get everything ready for him, offering him the entire 2 seater sofa to himself (a luxury never afforded to anyone except particular guests, usually).

As he popped two of his tramadol tablets to manage the pain and Scott appeared having landed 1, he idly looked down past the pool, surprised to find his heart sank a little when he noticed the helipad was empty.

“Has Tycho gone?” he found himself asking aloud, wondering if his mental filter would ever return.

Beside him, Kayo gave a bit of a sigh.

“Yeah, him and Brains went to London to do some work on redesigning the underground systems into mag-lev trains, similar to the hyper-car. Since the re-trial was a success, they want to roll it out everywhere. Neither of them would shut up about it.”

“Oh,” Virgil responded, annoyed at himself for the flash of hurt that went straight through his chest when he realised he was disappointed that Tycho hadn’t been here to welcome him back or been worried about him.

“They’re coming back to do some more nerd stuff tomorrow night, though,” Alan chimed in. “They were both worried sick about you after the accident.”

“They were?” Virgil asked, mentally slapping himself for sounding so hopeful. He needed to go to bed. Talking about and thinking about Tycho while high on serious painkillers was not the best idea in the world. “Ok. Well I’m heading to bed, been ordered to rest,” he grunted as he pulled himself up from the sofa on his crutches. “Plus I’m exhausted.”

“Ok Virg, you need any help getting upstairs?” Scott asked from across the kitchen where he was catching Grandma and John up on everything the doctors had said.

“Yeah, we could get Brains to put in a stair lift,” Gordon giggled, setting Alan off with him.

“I swear to god I will beat you with one of these,” Virgil smiled back tiredly, waving his left crutch in a mildly threatening manner.

“Oooh, I’m so scared,” Gordon chided back with a wink. He had been over-joyed to have Virgil back. Out of all of his brothers and no matter how close he was with Alan, Vigil just got him, and he’d missed him like crazy.

“You should be,” Virgil grinned. “I should be fine getting up, I can take the lift, but thanks for your concern,” he responded to Scott.

“Buzzer’s set up in your room if you need anything,” Kayo informed him, running her hand across his shoulder as she passed.

“You went in my room?” he asked, a little taken aback.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t poke,” she reassured him. “I even resisted the urge to wash every single piece of clothing on your floor. Just put the buzzer on the table. Just press and it’ll alert us you need help in case you can’t activate the comm. Just a precautionary measure.”

“Right, in case I become a total invalid.”

“Instead of just the partial one you’ve always been? Exactly,” she grinned, waving as she went back down to the hangar.

“Night Virg,” Gordon called from across the room as Virgil hobbled out with an amused smile on his face.

It was good to be back home.

“Night!” he called back, receiving a chorus of echos.

*-*-*-*

The trip up to his room seemed at least six times longer than it usually was.

His hands were aching and beginning to rub on the handles of his crutches and he briefly wondered if he should dig out his gloves to provide a buffer. He came to the conclusion, as he managed to carefully enter his room, close the door and collapse in exhaustion onto the bed, that tomorrow would be a better day for that and everything else he wanted to do.

He briefly pondered a shower, realising that he had to change the bandages on his arm as instructed and let out a frustrated sigh.

He was _so tired_ , and he wouldn’t have long until the painkillers started kicking in.

With another sigh, he decided it was probably best not to ignore doctor’s orders, and on a personal level, he _stank_ to high heaven after 3 days of unconsciousness. He hauled himself up using his crutches and hobbled to the bathroom, careful every step on the way as he turned on his shower and disrobed, carefully stepping in with the bandage still on his arm.

He quickly washed himself as best he could while keeping the weight of his right side on the crutch which was perched on the solid floor just outside the shower door. It was awkward, but as the grime and dried sweat washed off of his body, he felt so much better.

Stepping out as carefully as he had in, he moved to the closed toilet, sitting himself down and towelling off before tackling the bandages on his arm.

Grateful for Scott having bought the supplies up ready for him shortly after they’d arrived, he undid the metal clip which held the current bandage in place and began to unwind the length of material. After what seemed like forever, he finally felt a tug of skin where he had to be gentle, pulling the now soaked medicated bandage away from his skin. Pain seared a little as he pulled it away, the skin revealed a sickly yellow where it had begun to blister and heal over and an angry welted red in others where it hadn’t quite started to heal yet, the skin burnt away and exposing small parts of the muscle underneath, covered by a fine layer of new skin the medi-gel had promoted to heal.

Finally removing the last part of the bandage and curling it into a clinical waste bag, he moved his arm in front of him, shivering from the tingling feeling the fresh air caused against the wound.

All things considered, it could have been a _lot_ worse, but damn, that was going to scar.

He gingerly washed the wounds out, wincing in pain when he caught a particularly sensitive spot and let it air dry as instructed. Next came the burn gel, a bright orange paste which looked a bit like paint. He smeared it gently and generously over the wound as instructed, leaving it to ‘soak in’ for a minute or two before he began the battle with the bandage.

Perched on the toilet and struggling to loop the bandages around his arm, he must have looked quite hilarious, gripping the end in his left hand while running it around with his right.

Eventually, he managed to loop it all around, attaching a new butterfly clip to the end and onto the main part of the bandage. He re-positioned it a couple of times before settling on the correct place and examined his handiwork.

“Not bad,” he remarked to himself, yawning as he looked at the clock through the bedroom door.

It was only 7:30pm but he was exhausted.

‘ _Screw it,’_ he thought as he reached for his crutches. His decision was made.

He quickly towelled off and hobbled out of the bathroom and towards his bed, carefully laying down and lifting his injured knee over onto the mattress, shifting it an inch at a time. There was still a small bit of movement in it, as he’d been warned there would be at first, but in time, he had confidence it would improve.

Pulling the freshly changed duvet over himself (and making a mental note to thank Grandma in the morning), he was about to relax into the plush sheets when a small thought manifested itself in the back of his mind.

_You almost died. Actually died. Like dead died._

Virgil’s eyes snapped wide open as the realisation hit.

He was here, back in his room, on his family island, surrounded by his family and friends but _fuck_ , he nearly hadn’t been.

A lump formed in his throat and tears welled in his eyes as his body made its emotional response known.

Panic formed a knot in his chest, the pain it resonated like being shot, sharp and sudden, pulsing once the shooting had stopped.

Heaving for breath as the panic attack rolled over him, he looked to the cabinet where the buzzer Kayo had placed there sat and contemplated, just for a moment, asking for help, asking for them to come, just so he wouldn't be alone. Just so they could tell him he was alive, he was  _okay_.

Then as suddenly as the attack came on, it began to fade, dribbling away like rain on a window.

Suddenly, he was sobbing, tears rolling down the side of his face as he lay there, heaving for breath, sobs wracking his chest.

He curled up into himself, wincing as his knee protested at the bend in his body. Taking a deep breath in and holding it, he tried to recall his breathing exercises as best as he could, repeating an internal mantra.

_You almost died. But you didn’t. You’re home. Tomorrow is another day._

He clung to the train of thought as exhaustion overtook him and for the first time since their mother had died, he could do nothing but lay where he was, clutching how own body with arms wrapped around himself and cry himself to into a deep, uneasy sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting hot!
> 
> You've been warned ;)
> 
> This chapter include some smut.

A knock on the door woke him from the deepest sleep he’d had in a while.

Lifting his head, he felt a string of drool in contact with his pillow break against his face. He let out a disgusted groan and wiped it with the back of his hand.

“Ugh,” he murmured, pulling himself slowly into a sitting position, mindful of his knee, still sore and nerves screaming as the knocking on the door became more insistent.

“What the…” Virgil wondered aloud, feeling the chill of the morning air on his bare skin as his still dull mind registered that he was still naked after his shower last night.

Pulling the duvet up over himself to cover the front of his body up to his neck, he yawned and stretched as he shouted to the door.

“Come in.”

The door immediately flew open, nearly bouncing off of the wall behind it. Dim light from the hallway spilled into the room, silhouetting the figure who had been knocking. Virgil jumped at the sudden action, as did Tycho as he stood in the door way looking unsure.

“Virgil?” he asked softly.

“Tycho, you’re back!” Virgil responded, suddenly very aware of how naked he was behind his too thin duvet and blushing slightly.

The scientist had an odd look on his face as he hovered in the doorway dressed in a smart grey suit and loosened tie, his chest rising and falling steadily beneath his partially unbuttoned shirt as he thought about his next actions, contemplating. Virgil regarded him as a beat of awkward silence fell between then.

“You can… uh, come in?” he offered, shifting a little uncomfortably.

“I…” Tycho began, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth as his body tensed as if to retreat from the doorway back into the corridor. “I’m sorry, I… are you okay?” he stuttered.

Virgil held his breath as Tycho finally stepped forward into his room, closing the door carefully behind him.

“Could be better,” Virgil gave a soft chuckle, unsure of where this was going as the light from the door disappeared as it was shut, leaving them in relative darkness.  
The only light the room now the dull red light from his clock across on the desk in the carefully arranged study space by his window.

Mindful of how many obstacles existed on the floor in the form of his clothes and other belongings, Virgil reached for his wrist tool and set the lights to their lowest setting.

The lights set into the ceiling flared into a light not dissimilar to candle-light, exposing the carnage of his room which sent a small rippled of shame through Virgil.

But Tycho’s attention was not on the room’s contents.

The slimmer man let out a gasp as the light fell across Virgil’s form, exposing the bruises around his eyes and nose from the fall, the mostly healed gash on his forehead and the expanse of white bandages on his arm.

“Virgil,” he breathed, moving across the room, hand stretched out in front of him as he took in his injuries, approaching him slowly, as if scared that moving too fast would cause him to bolt. “My god.”

Virgil remained still, unsure of what he should do as he watched Tycho move towards him rapidly, his calloused, dextrous fingers making contact with the skin of his cheek within moments, his touch soft and investigative as the inventor’s hand moved to cup his face.

“Scott told us you’d had an accident but… how… You… How did this happen?” he asked softly, crouching in front of him.

Virgil gave a soft smile, knowing he should pull away from the over familiar embrace, knowing he should regain the distance between them, his personal space.

But damn, it had been _so long_ since someone had touched him like this.

It was all he could do to stop himself from leaning into Tycho’s hand.

“Long story short, I fell from the seating rig and hit the deck hard,” he explained with a measure of mirth in his voice. “Silly old me, right?”

But there was no sign of entertainment on Tycho’s face as he looked Virgil over, his hand still in place cupping Virgil’s face, gently turning him side to side to get a better look. He slowly ran his thumb across his chin, barely a touch on his lips but enough contact to send a shiver through Virgil’s body.

Tycho took note and pulled back.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t… We headed back as soon as we could,” he explained. “There was no news and… then Scott said you were… I… we were so relieved,” he breathed, moving to sit down on Virgil’s right side, wary of the way the bed dipped where his injured knee rested.

“You didn’t have to come back on my account,” Virgil smiled, ignoring the pleasant heat that spread through his stomach that told a different story.

“We were, no, I was worried. I mean, Brains was too but… I…” Tycho sat for a moment, his gaze falling to his hands. “I can’t explain it. I don’t know why but…” He looked back to Virgil, a look of sincerity in his eyes so sharp it sent a jolt of emotion straight to Virgil’s heart.

“I feel this odd… connection, with you,” Tycho tried, twisting his hands together as he spoke, breaking their eye contact and staring back into his lap. “It’s like… I walk into a room that you’re in and I’m… drawn to you. Like we’re magnets, there’s a pull there.”

Virgil found himself nodding along in agreement as he processed his words; he was close to explaining the phenomenon he himself had not been able to describe.

“As soon as I heard, I just… I couldn’t concentrate. I was useless,” he admitted with a mirthless laugh. “I’ve…” he looked back to Virgil. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

A beat of silence fell between them as Virgil weighed his options. This was getting heavier faster than he had imagined.

“Tycho… I,” he began, unsure of what to say. “I feel the same, like you said, the pull, but… I…” He measured his next words carefully. “I don’t know if you understand how broken I am,” he smiled sadly. “In more ways than I can explain.”

“Let me put you back together,” Tycho offered a smile back, shifting to face Virgil, his hand moving up to Virgil’s bare chest, resting on his pectoral muscle, his hand flexing in place as he made eye contact with Virgil, shifting closer. “After all, it’s what I’m good at.”

The slid his hand up to Virgil’s neck, moving to draw his closer.

“I want to kiss you,” Tycho whispered, moving towards him.

Virgil felt a familiar heat mix with the butterflies going wild in his stomach, a pull of desire as he shifted to face Tycho, decision made.

He leaned in, arousal shooting through his body as Tycho pressed into him, their lips meeting with a passion he had long since forgotten.

Virgil let out a muffled moan as Tycho kissed him with ferocity, the hand on the back of his neck tightening its grip, pulling him closer.

Tycho whimpered against his lips, the electricity between them almost palpable as his free hand moved to Virgil’s chest, putting pressure against the firm muscle, pushing him back onto the bed.

They broke apart, gasping for breath as Tycho pushed more insistently.

“Lay down,” he instructed, shifting back enough to allow Virgil to move his injured knee without restriction. Virgil complied, shifting himself back onto the plush mattress, eyes trained on Tycho as he stood and removed his tie and blazer, throwing them thoughtlessly on the ground behind him. Next, he pulled carelessly at his shirt, buttons flying across the room as he removed it eagerly revealing taut, pale skin.

He was no-where near as muscular as Virgil, but it didn’t matter to the larger man.

He kicked off his shoes and soon his dress trousers also hit the floor, leaving him in nothing but a pair of silk grey boxers tented where his arousal was obvious.

Virgil swallowed hard, taking in Tycho’s form as he moved back onto the bed, bracing himself to hover over him and his lips returned, resuming their kiss with renewed passion.

This was moving fast, almost _too_ fast, but Virgil couldn’t bring himself to stop; it had been too long since he had been taken by this feeling, this arousal and heat.

Tycho’s tongue slipped between their lips, swiping at Virgil’s mouth and drawing a moan from the pilot, his hands moving to settle on Tycho’s hips where he hovered above him and urged him closer, pulling him over his own body.

Tycho obliged, lifting himself to straddle Virgil’s form, careful of his positioning and never breaking the kiss.

Heart thundering in his chest, Virgil’s hands ran over the exposed expanse of Tycho’s back, coaxing a deep moan from him as his tongue slipped into Virgil’s mouth, exploring and sending a fresh wave of heat through both of their bodies.

Drawing their bodies closer together, Tycho shifted himself to pull the duvet covering Virgil away, exposing his naked form, his cock hard and pulsing as it rested on his stomach. He lowered his hips to Virgil’s, pressing their erections together and grinding upwards.

Their kiss was broken by mutual moans, eyes opening and locking on each other’s for a moment before they both surged forward once more, all tongues and teeth pulling at lips and pure arousal.

“Fuck,” Virgil whispered into the kiss as Tycho grinded against him again, the friction awful and wonderful and just _not enough._

Tycho pulled back a little, breaking the kiss, his chest heaving, heart racing as he looked down over Virgil.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Tycho admitted, his voice deep and guttural as he shifted his hips to add pressure between them again.

Virgil threw his head back into the pillows as a moan erupted from his lips, Tycho taking the opportunity to move his lips to the sensitive skin of his neck, planting kisses and swiping his tongue against Virgil’s pulse point, moving lower with every kiss.

The larger man squirmed beneath him, arching his hips up, grinding their cocks together again.

It was borderline overwhelming, the pressure on his dick, Tycho’s mouth on his throat, the shift of weight as his body moved down, planting kisses as he went, nipping at the taut skin.

“I need to taste you,” he moaned against Virgil’s chest, his movements swifter now as he moved back to eagerly eye his goal. “I need this,” he emphasised as he moved his mouth to hover over Virgil’s erect cock, eyes fixed on his prize.

“You’re perfect,” he sighed, moving his body to one side, careful not to shift Virgil’s injured leg.

Virgil could not manage words, his brain was not co-operating and only supplied a throaty moan as he felt breath on the tip of his cock, leaking pre-cum.

His arms moved up, hands grabbing fistfuls of the pillow his head rested on as Tycho extended his tongue, using his hand to draw back his foreskin as are as comfortable with a firm grip, the friction sending shockwaves through Virgil’s body, hips arching as Tycho’s tongue lapped at the sensitive head.

As he moaned, completely lost to the passion of the moment, Virgil vaguely registered the need to be restrained, should someone else in the house be woken by the noise.

This would _not_ make for a comfortable explanation, he mused as Tycho’s tongue continued to lap at his cock, moving down and licking a stripe up over the hardened muscle.

“F-fuck, Tycho,” he gasped, knuckles turning white from the pressure of his grip.

Tycho moaned in response.

“Fuck,” Tycho responded. “You keep saying my name like that, I’m not going to last,” he said softly, his hand pumping Virgil’s cock, slowly, torturously as his tongue returned to the sensitive underside of his cock, licking upwards, moving over the slit at the head.

“T-Tycho, fuck, please,” Virgil pleaded, needing more.

Another moan fell from Tycho’s lips as he opened his mouth to take his cock, lips teasing the head.

“Virgil,” he moaned as he moved to engulf him. “Virgil…”

_“Virgil? Virg! Wake up!”_

“Fuck!”

Virgil jolted up in bed, hissing in pain as the movement shifted his injured leg and pain seared through his damaged muscles.

“Are you okay? Virgil, respond.”

John’s voice sounded over the intercom and Virgil was incredibly grateful he had the comm set to auto audio only.

“I’m fine,” he gasped, suddenly aware of the thin layer of sweat coating his entire body and the warm weight of his erection between his legs.

John made an annoyed noise over the comm.

“Don’t lie to me,” he chastised. “EOS picked up a huge blood pressure spike and change in heartrate.”

“I’m fine,” Virgil insisted, trying to regain his composure, resisting the urge to begin fisting his cock, images of Tycho still swimming in his mind.

_‘It was just a dream’_ he reasoned, finding himself bitterly disappointed as he looked around his empty room.

“Just dreaming. Really vivid dreaming,” he explained to the comm, biting his lip as the shifted the duvet, the drag of the material against his skin torture.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” John pressed.

“Yes, I’m fine, I just want to get back to sleep,” Virgil hissed through gritted teeth, façade slipping. “And stop your girlfriend from monitoring me. I’m fine.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s… You know, what, Okay, fine,” John huffed. “Just… take it easy,” he instructed. “Goodnight, Virgil.”

“Night,” Virgil responded shortly.

“Comms off,” he said to the empty room, throwing the covers off of his body.

“Fuck,” he hissed as he wrapped his hand around his still hard cock, throwing his head back at the contact.

He pumped the hard flesh a couple of times, his blood still boiling from the heat of the dream. It had been a long time since he’d last had a sex dream, and it had never been as vivid as this.

Letting out a low moan, he rolled over to his bedside table, wincing as he momentarily forgot himself and pain bloomed from his knee

But it wasn’t enough to dampen the warmth still coursing through his body. He pulled out his drawer, reaching inside for the small tube of oil he’d bought a couple of months back as a deep moisturiser; it wasn’t perfect, but it would do.

Rolling onto his back with the oil in hand, he unscrewed the cap and squeezed a generous amount into his cupped hand, careful not to spill any as he placed the bottle onto the floor and coated his erection with the substance, hissing a little as the chill of the liquid hit, warming through quickly as he spread it over the sensitive skin and slicked his hand as he did so.

The slick feeling intensified the pleasure he felt as he returned to pumping his erection, the drag of skin a delicious friction. His hips bucked of their own accord as he continued his actions, teeth gritted as he fought back moans. Closing his eyes, he fell back into the now dulling memories of his dream, images of Tycho’s face, the lustful gaze as he’d moved above him, the weight of him grinding against him.

Another surge of arousal shot through him, his hand answering with a swift swipe of his thumb across the head of his cock, the pre-cum gathered there mixing with the oil.

Another, louder moan escaped him as he quickened his pace.

He thought of Tycho straddling him, tilting his hips forward as he braced himself on strong arms, teasing the head of Virgil’s cock with his slicked, stretched hole as he moved to ride him, sinking down slowly onto him, moaning as he did so.

Virgil’s grip on his cock tightened, his movements quickening as he began to lose his rhythm, the pleasure coursing through him beginning to overwhelm his senses.

“Fuck, Tycho,” he moaned a little too loudly, caught up in the moment.

He would have felt guilty, were it not for the waves of pleasure crashing over him as his body finally relented, letting go and his orgasm hit him full force.

“F-Fuuck,” he groaned, tilting his head back as he cupped his hand over his cock, catching his seed as he came harder than he could remember doing so in his life.

It was all he could do to not collapse as he sat, almost doubled over, heaving for breath.

“Shit,” he breathed, vaguely aware of the thin sheen of sweat that now covered his body as it began to cool.

The whole experience had been so intense, he mused as he grabbed a dirty shirt from the floor to wipe his hand off.

But the intensity was dulled by a twinge of guilt as his thoughts grew hazy with thoughts of Tycho. Even with his body sated as he laid back into the mattress, his face, images of him as they’d spent their time together inside 2 drifted through his mind.

_‘I shouldn’t be thinking of him like this. It’s not right’_

He sighed, the pleasure he had felt almost worn out as his heart rate began to settle. He couldn’t control his dreams but…

What Tycho had said in his dream… he _wanted_ that. To hear he felt the same, that he felt the intense _heat_ between them whenever they were in a room together. That magnetic pull…

Ugh, what was he thinking?

_‘He probably thinks I’m just a weirdo with a smart streak,’_ his thoughts suddenly turned sour. _‘A billionaire genius; why would he ever want me?’_

Sadness came out of the darkness of his room like a fire, creeping where he laid the fuel and engulfing him.

_There it was. The inevitable depression in the face of hope_ , he thought, almost laughing at how dramatic his own thoughts had become.

With another sigh, he looked to the clock on his desk.

4:26.

“Screw it,” he huffed, moving to stand up.

No point in wasting the day. It wasn’t like he was getting back to sleep now anyway.

With a small wince, he searched in the dark for his crutches and hauled himself carefully out of bed, ready to start the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I've managed to get down two chapters today with no sign of slowing!   
> What started as a small idea has spiralled into a 50+ page monster!
> 
> Got a good idea of where this is going and I am LOVING writing it so far!
> 
> So glad lots of you are enjoying it, thank you all for the comments, kudos and general love, it really means the world!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the drama!
> 
> We're getting close to the really good stuff, I promise!

He _really_ needed to find his gloves, he decided as he gingerly hobbled towards the kitchen as quickly as he could, his hands slipping and pinching on the handles as he did so, lip curling with every difficult step.

Dressed in baggy jogging pants and a loose grey vest, he almost felt guilty in the relief that he didn’t have to worry about wearing clothes that fit under his response suit at all times.

He loved his job, but the little things that came with it, being on call 24/7, days of not knowing the next time he’d get sleep, something to eat or drink, the constant danger, the anxiety of knowing a call could come in at any second… it wore him down over time.

The flexible knee brace he’d managed (after some struggling) to fit on his knee was restrictive in an almost comforting way, but the feeling was still foreign and throwing off his steps as he shuffled along, careful whenever he put weight on the swollen joint. And boy, was it swollen.

A sharp twinge in his hand drew him out of his thoughts as he put weight on his crutches. Pausing for a moment, he lifted his hand up to get a good look at the damage being done to his palm. The skin in the centre, where the round of his thumb joint met the main part of his palm was an angry red and beginning to swell. He let out a distasteful hiss as he regarded it; it was definitely going to blister, and that was going to _suck_.

Heaving a sigh, he gingerly returned his hand to his crutch and continued his journey.

The pain was building by the time he got around the corner of the stairs and began to move to the kitchen when something distracted him… a sweet smell.

He paused and sniffed the air. It had been so long since he’d smelt it… Was that…

“Pancakes?”

Tycho was in the kitchen, apron in hand and MAX by his side, whirring cooking utensils like a mad thing.

“Tycho?” Virgil choked, eyes wide as he stared at the inventor as he turned back to the frying pan in front of him. He looked a mess, hair askew, dark rings around his eyes, wearing a loosely buttoned white shirt that hung from his muscular frame and tatty jeans, small nicks and tears littering them.

The smile that graced his lips faded as his eyes landed on Virgil’s face, taking in the damage the fall had done to him.

Sharp eyes travelled over his bandaged arm, down to his knee, the swelling obvious even through the relatively loose material.

Concern was written over the inventor’s face as he opened his mouth as if to speak, hesitated and then closed it again, turning back to the frying pan in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he slimmer man apologised as he expertly flipped a pancake. “I shouldn’t stare. Bad habit of mine.” MAX let out a series of impressed sounding beeps as Tycho effortlessly flipped the pancake he was currently cooking up into the air and caught it in the pan. “Not that I dislike staring at you, I…” he seemed to catch himself, clearing his throat as he grabbed for the spatula next to him, quickly manhandling the pancake onto an already stacked plate next to the hob. “I tried to get up early enough to bring you breakfast but it seems you, ah, _beat_ me to it,” he laughed, winking.

Virgil froze in horror.

Oh god. What was that supposed to mean?

A feeling like ice water down his back shot through Virgil.

_Had he heard him this morning? Why was he emphasising the way he was? Had he actually been coming to his room?_ _Had he heard him moaning his name?_

He was sure his face was red as a beetroot as Tycho gestured for him to take a seat at the kitchen table, a plateful of the fluffiest looking pancakes he had ever seen stacked high being placed in front of a seat MAX graciously pulled back.

“Uh… you really don’t have to,” Virgil choked, trying his best _not_ to blurt out _‘I jerked off to the thought of you sucking my dick this morning’_ as the thought whirred around his head, unhelpfully supplying the memories of the dream as he did.

Realisation suddenly dawned on him. “I thought you and Brains weren’t back until this evening,” he said with a questioning tone.

Tycho raised an eyebrow as he bought a small pitcher of syrup over to the table, offering it to Virgil with a flourish.

“Like anything could keep us from coming back when I… when we heard,” he corrected himself with a small cough. “If it hadn’t been for that damn transport board dragging their heels on whether they actually want people to survive any potential crashes and having to be convinced to add in collision protection systems, we’d have been back a damn sight sooner,” he huffed, picking up his own plateful of fluffy, steaming pancakes from the counter and heading to the table to sit next to Virgil.  
“Honestly, those people couldn’t make a quick decision if their lives depended on it.”

Virgil nodded at his words, though he didn’t really register them.

His thoughts were swirling again, clouding his thoughts as he stared down at the thick stack of pancakes in front of him.

“So,” Tycho grinned at him, eyes flicking to the gash on Virgil’s head for a second before focusing back on his eyes. “Tell me about this death defying experience of yours.”

He dragged the chair he sat on up to the table, eagerly beginning to tear into the pancakes he’d made as MAX began clearing up behind them.

Virgil looked up from his plate, gaze meeting Tycho’s as the inventor stared at him, chewing expectantly.

“Well?” he asked through a mouthful of pancake.

Virgil looked back down at his own stack, feeling a little lost.

“I…” he began, unsure of how to start.

Images of his dream passed across his vision, unbidden and a flush rose up his face as he avoided Tycho’s gaze, his stomach rumbling but too full of butterflies to stomach food at the moment.

“Virgil?” Tycho called him softly from across the table, leaning towards him a little. Looking up to meet his gaze, Virgil noticed, for the first time, the flecks of lighter brown that dotted his irises as he looked at him more prominent through his glasses than they ever had been before.

Virgil swallowed hard.

“I… I don’t know what to tell you,” he said with a half chuckle.

Tycho seemed to physically relax at his words, glad the momentary tension was gone.

“I fell, like an idiot, onto an erupting volcanic plateau, smashed my head and still managed to make it out with only a dislocated knee and some nasty cuts.”

“A rather inelegant way to go about things, it sounds,” Tycho chuckled. Virgil tried not to notice his gaze wandering up to his injured head every few seconds.

“It’s ok to stare,” he mumbled, his cheeks heating up. “I know it looks bad, but it’s really not. Got a thick skull,” he smiled, rapping his knuckles on the side of the head for emphasis.

Tycho chuckled in response.

“Can’t say I’m not glad of that,” he admitted, reaching for more maple syrup to drown his remaining pancakes in. “You had us worried there for a good long while.”

Virgil forced a smile, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.

“Yeah, it wasn’t great on my end either.”

Tycho snorted with laughter, mouth full of pancake. Virgil couldn’t help but smile at the noise.

“Scott filled us in on most of what happened when he called,” Tycho admitted, his mouth still half full. His actions slowing to a stop for a moment as he stared down at his plate, placing his utensils carefully at the side of the plate and folding his hands in his lap as he swallowed the last of his mouthful.

Virgil watched carefully, studying the movement. The slimmer man let out a thoughtful sigh, now finding the twist of his hands as they settled in his lap rather interesting.

“When I first heard… I…” he looked up to meet Virgil’s gaze, mouth snapping shut as he did so, measuring his words carefully.

For a brief moment, the two just sat in silence, sharing an intense gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Tycho laughed almost sadly as the moment passed, looking back down to his hands. “There I go, making it all about me.” There was a bitter note in his voice that made Virgil uneasy.

“I just wanted to… if there’s anything I can do,” Tycho offered, eyes snapping back up to meet Virgil’s, his hand moving suddenly across the table to where Virgil’s rested on the table, calloused palms made hard after years of building prototypes and drawing up plans making contact with sun-kissed, weather hardened skin. His hand squeezed Virgil’s gently, “If I can help in any way, you let me know. I’m… sorry this happened,” he looked down again.

Virgil regarded Tycho’s hand as it remained resting on his.

“I…” Tycho began, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth in a rather endearing way as he paused, unsure if he should continue. “I try not to be one to beat around the bush,” Tycho said with a humourless laugh. “I’m rather fond of you, Virgil,” he explained, eyes locking with Virgil’s once more. “You’re… nice?” he tried. “Oh, that doesn’t, no. You’re not just nice,” he mumbled, beginning to become flustered, face turning red. “You’re… smart and, clever and… wait, those are the same thing. I mean, you’re handsome and… that’s not a personality trait but… do you know what I mean?”

He drew his hand back from Virgil’s, cupping his head in his hands in despair at himself.

“Oh I’m no good at this,” he admitted, shaking his head.

Virgil was more confused than ever as he watched Tycho murmur to himself, random words spilling from his lips.

“Kind? Yes. But not just kind, selfless. And brave, _so_ brave,” he emphasised by hanging across the table, desperate to make his point. “Do you… do you understand what I’m saying?”

Virgil just stared for a moment, watching Tycho as he continued fiddling with his fingers where they still rested in this lap.

A wave of affection rose up from his stomach, sending a nice shiver through his torso as a smile crept onto his face.

Concerned by the silence, Tycho snapped his gaze up to Virgil’s face, the worried expression fading when he saw Virgil’s smile, his lips curving upwards.

Giving a soft sigh, Virgil shifted a little, opening his mouth to speak, wondering what Tycho would say if he told him…

“Mornin’ boys! You’re up early. For once.”

“Grandma!” Virgil almost squeaked, taken by surprise as the older woman as she made her way past their table and into the kitchen, already up and dressed for the day in her favourite purple jogging suit, hair styled perfectly and a spring in her step.

She paused for a moment, hands on hips as she smelt the air.

“Who’s been making pop-tarts?”

“Pop tarts, ugh, sugary rubbish,” Tycho grimaced as he shot up from the table, his chair squeaking as he moved tightening fast across the kitchen back to the oven over the other side of the kitchen, shooting her a smile as he did so.

“Honestly, Sally. You think I’d pollute you all with manufactured rubbish,” he mumbled as he grabbed the pair of oven gloves on the side, pulling the oven door open and removing another plate from inside the warmed module, also stacked his high pancakes which wobbled gently as he pulled them out and turned to her, present them with a huge grin.

“Japanese style fluffy pancakes,” he smiled as he moved back to the table, placing the plate there with care and turning back to face her. “Just watch yourself, the plate is hot.”

Sally smiled fondly at Tycho as she moved to sit at the table.

“Well isn’t this a nice surprise? You are a sweet boy,” she looked to Virgil as she drew her chair in. “You boys could learn something from Tycho.”

He inventor blushed a bright red behind her as voices echoed from the stairway down to the kitchen. Looking back over to the oven where several more plates of pancakes sat, warming, he gave a sigh and turned back to Virgil.

“We’ll finish our, ah, conversation, later,” he mumbled.

“What conversation?” Sally asked after swallowing a mouthful of syrupy pancake a little too fast. “Ooh, Tycho, be a dear and get me a glass of water,” she asked as she looked at Virgil expectantly.

“Uh,” he began, face tinged pink as he looked to Tycho for help. The slimmer man just shrugged unhelpfully. “We were just talking about the… my accident,” he tried, hoping he sounded convincing.

Sally eyed his sceptically for a moment before going back to attacking her pancakes with her knife and fork.

“Oh, alright then. Just do be careful not to overwhelm yourself. I know you went through a lot, Virgil,” she said fondly, eyes bright as she turned back to Tycho. “And don’t press him too much, you. Our Virgil is a sensitive soul. Takes everything to heart.”

“Hey!” Virgil frowned, more than a little embarrassed. “That’s not…” he thought for a moment.

“It is so true, and it’s what makes you a great rescuer and an even greater human being,” she smiled softly, looking over her shoulder for a second before leaning towards Virgil, her voice hushed while Tycho was distracted setting all of the plates previously in the oven onto the counter top. “And it’s something that worries me when _interest_ is shown,” she admitted, eyes flashing back to Tycho.

There was nothing he could do to stop the flush that spread over his entire body.

“Grandma,” he hissed in a warning tone, one that was met with a soft smile.

“I don’t care who he is, if he hurts you,” she replied lowly, eyes narrowing somewhat.

When the whole Jason fiasco had occurred and he was finally caught and arrested, it was all any of them could do to stop her from flying directly to the jail they were holding him in before his trial and ripping him to shreds. She’d been livid.

She would never admit it when asked, but she had more of a soft spot and a lot more patience with Virgil than the rest of the boys. He’d only been 2 when John was born after a difficult, short pregnancy and an even more difficult birth which had nearly claimed the lives of both their mother and John.

Scott, being older, remembered everything; the fear, the uncertainty, how dad would cry every night and how much he missed their mother. Virgil was too young to properly understand the seriousness of the situation, so when she had arrived as back up, there for her family as she always was, Scott and Jeff had gone for some father and son time to distract them both from what had gone on, now the worst was over, and Virgil stayed with her.

It had been three long weeks, but some of the best of her life.

She didn’t see the boys as much of her grandchildren as she’d liked, though that had changed a little since Gray had…

Well, her husband’s untimely demise was still a particular sore subject. The details released by the government bodies responsible for his safety were still sketchy, and the lack of transparency had been one of the biggest reasons Jeff abandoned his military career.

But the time had been made easier, and was made easier in those three weeks, by Virgil’s presence.

He was always a pudgy, strong baby, always ahead of milestones; rolling over at 4 months, walking at 9 months, even if the words didn’t follow until later. But at two, he was the definition of cuddle monster. It wasn’t that he needed to be held and hugged at all times or he screamed; quite the opposite. He was as independent as he could be at just over 2 years old, constantly into everything, finding every piece of chocolate Sally had managed to hide around the house and consuming it before she could stop him, usual shenanigans associated with boisterous two year olds.

But in those moments where everything got a bit too much as she sat down with a sigh, wondering where Scott and Jeff were, if Lucille was doing okay after her surgery, if John would be okay with the doctors giving such a bleak prognoses and she began to crack a little, Virgil always seemed to know.

No matter what time of the day or night, just as everything was getting a little overwhelming, a tiny figure would appear, usually clutching his favourite stuffed robot toy, mop of brown hair all over the place and his hand in his mouth, sucking his fingers and he would run to her, wordlessly snuggling up to her and resting his head on whatever comfortable part of her he could find, though he usually ended up in her lap.

And in those moments when he would come to her and just _be there_ , she knew that everything would be okay. No matter what. Because they had Virgil, and if he could help her through these dark times, of course he could make everyone pull together.

The same had rung true through every situation they had encountered as he’d aged. Even after John was given the all clear and allowed home and Lucille recovered; through her next, terrifying pregnancy, so worried that everything would go wrong again, he was there, looking after John, stroking his head, giving him snacks, following him everywhere, rubbing her belly, hugging her when she was sad. Through Gordon’s birth, through Alan coming into the world, through the brothers all going to boarding school and the struggles that came with it, through all of their accomplishments…

Then through their parents’ accident and Lucille’s death, their fathers mourning, the foundations being laid for international rescue… through everything, they all began to turn to him.

He’d turned into a rock for the family; the reliable, steadfast, strapping young man he’d become, he was the safe space they turned to. He held onto their secrets, their fears poured out at some ungodly hour after a particularly bad rescue, their hopes, dreams, memories. He held all of it for them when they couldn’t and never asked a thing in return.

And that’s what scared Sally as she watched Virgil’s reaction to her words, his lips tightly together, almost a pout as he flushed bright red.

“Grandma, it’s not… we’re not…” he stammered, eyes constantly on Tycho, watching him prepare as his brothers advanced from upstairs. “I don’t even… I don’t know if…” he just couldn’t get the words out.

Sally offered a reassuring smile, a pang of fear striking her heart for a brief moment for Virgil. He was still so hurt over Jason, so reluctant. But he deserved happiness. And happiness was never found in fear.

She shifted towards him, mindful of the noise she was making as he leant over the table, her hand coming to rest on the exact place Tycho’s had been not five minutes before, giving Virgil’s hand a squeeze.

She sighed as she looked Virgil over, taking note of the uncertainty in his eyes.

“Oh Virgil,” she chuckled, beckoning him closer with a conspirational look. Virgil leaned in, curious, keeping an eye on Tycho who was still busying himself with readying the pancakes. “You can trust me when I say, he does,” she smiled, pulling back.

Virgil shot her a questioning look which was only answered with her usual soft smile as Gordon and Alan came barrelling down the stairs, almost tripping over each other to get into the kitchen.

“Do I seriously smell pancakes?” Gordon chirped, looking warily around. He spotted Sally sat at the table, now happily munching on hers and Tycho in the kitchen, dishing up the delicious looking, stacked platefuls.

“Yes!” Alan shouted, fist pumping. “Actual good food for breakfast!”

Sally turned with false anger on her face.

“I heard that, young man!” she called, causing Alan to recoil a little and back away a couple of steps. “If you don’t like my cooking then I suggest you learn to do your own!”

“Or we could just hire Tycho to cook for us all the time?” Gordon smiled, walking to pick up a plate from the side. “Also hi Tycho! Welcome back!”

The inventor smiled at the blonde man as he reached for the plate, giving him a swift slap on the wrist with a spatula he had to hand. Gordon yelped and pulled his hand back, hugging it to his chest.

“Hello yourself, and the plates are hot,” he grinned happily. “Also, I don’t need the money, so unfortunately, money can’t convince me to stay. As much as I’d like to stay and cook for you all forever, my businesses won’t run themselves!”

“Ugh,” Alan complained, grabbing a tea towel from the side of the kitchen and moving to pick up one of the plates. “But you’re so good at it! Can’t you just… I don’t know… marry someone here and live here forever?”

Tycho opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Gordon.

“Alan, that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard you say and I _love_ it!” he cried happily, grabbing for one of the plates when Tycho was distracted and wincing in pain at the heat of it, running over to the dining table with a chorus of ‘ow, ow’ ow, ow,’ until he reached it.

Virgil watched the scene unfold with mild amusement, a little annoyed at himself for the pang of jealousy that hit his stomach as they joked about Tycho getting married.

“We could ask Kayo!” Alan suggested, also moving to sit at the table.

“Yeah, she’s all about self-sacrifice for the greater good,” Gordon reasoned, sitting down and beginning to wolf down his breakfast.

“Don’t I get a say in any of this?” Tycho asked with an amused note in his voice.

“No!” Alan and Gordon both shouted over their shoulders simultaneously.

“Boys, I think it’s a little rude to plan someone’s life in front of them,” Sally chimed into their scheming, casting an eye to Virgil as she did so, giving a small wink. He blushed. Sometimes she was far too astute.

“Well it’s rude to not stay and cook for us forever so, nyeh,” Gordon replied, sticking his tongue out as he and Alan went back to their intense discussion.

“Well, uh, if I’m being forced into this, she’s really not my type,” Tycho laughed awkwardly, rubbing his hand on the back of his head as he spoke.

Gordon and Alan suddenly snapped round.

“Okay, so who is your type?” Alan asked.

“Yeah, out of all five of us and Penny, if you _had_ to marry one of us, who would it be?” Gordon continued bluntly.

“Gordon,” Sally warned but he ignored her.

“Sorry, and Grandma,” he added hastily.

“That is not what I meant!” she snapped, reaching to clip him around the ear.

Virgil watched in amusement as Tycho went bright red, hand still rubbing the back of his head, shuffling awkwardly on the spot.

“You don’t have to answer, Tycho,” he assured him. “They’re just morons. Ignore them.”

“Says the guy who didn’t clip himself onto his own seating rig and nearly ruined his modelling career,” Gordon snapped back.

“Says the guy whose Thunderbird’s floor looks like a trash can,” Virgil responded with a smile, the familiarity of this beat comforting. It almost felt normal.

A wicked smile whipped across Gordon’s face.

“Says the guy who takes out the power supply to the island with his hair dryer weekly,” he responded sharply, the smile still in place on his lips.

“Says the guy who hasn’t had a haircut in like three years.”

“Says the guy who, uh, sorry Alan,” Gordon apologised as he spat pancake crumbs all over the table in front of Alan in a bid to get his words out, “who spends like half of inheritance allowance every month on hair products.”

Virgil blushed a little, one hand instinctively going to his currently unstyled, messed up hair in an attempt to flatten it. The blush was not helped by Tycho’s snort of laughter as he bought Sally’s drink over to her.

“Says the guy who won’t tell the girl he likes he’s basically in love with her,” Virgil giggled, forgetting himself and the situation they were in, so caught up in the moment.

Almost instant regret washed over him as Gordon’s smile faded and tension fell between them.

Gordon’s attraction to Penny was well known throughout the family but not something often talked about, and certainly _not_ the butt of jokes.

He could blame it on the drugs, on the pain, on anything, he just had to apologise. Gordon didn’t take jabs like that well and would usually respond in kind, or worse. He had to say something, before Gordon retaliated, he had to…

“Says the guy,” Gordon snarled, a tone that made Alan behind him flinch and the whole room fall silent with dread, “who nearly brought down this whole set-up for the sake of some dick.”

The words took a second to process, but when they did, Virgil saw red.

“Fuck you!” he all but screamed, moving to stand up, sliding his chair back and shifting to stand, only to be stopped by a sharp shoot of pain through his knee.

He let out a cry of pain as it ran through him, followed by the heat of embarrassment at his failed storming out. He was livid, rage coursing through him that Gordon would not only bring that up, but put it in those words and in front of _Tycho_ of all people.

Tears stung at his eyes as he grabbed for his crutches, hauling himself up. He wasn’t paying attention as he got himself upright, his hands painful, arms aching with the force of the sudden movement, so when he shuffled into another body next to him, it caught him off guard.

Tycho stood there, hands out as if to catch him while falling, real concern written on his face.

“Virg,” Gordon called from behind him, “I…”

“Just shut up,” Virgil all but sobbed, emotions spiralling out of control, not wanting to look at him. Fuck, if this was an after effect of the drugs, not being in pain might not even be worth it. “I don’t… just… fuck off. Leave me alone,” he looked up into Tycho’s face where he stood next to him. “All of you, please. I just… I need…”

The room was spinning, nausea rising up from his stomach. His hearing became fuzzy, as if someone had put cotton balls over his ears.

****

Sally watched in horror as the colour drained from Virgil’s face, his skin turning a sickly white and his body began to give way underneath him.

She didn’t even have time to shout before he was falling, only to be stopped by Tycho’s strong arms as they caught his body, steadying him and keeping him upright.

Anger suddenly flared through her as Alan ran to Tycho’s side to help him with Virgil and Gordon stood, having jumped up to assist.

“Gordon Cooper Tracy!” Sally screeched. Gordon froze, looking between her and Virgil, unsure of what to do. Gordon froze just as he began to move, fear written on his face.

“I didn’t mean to! I just…” Gordon’s expression was fearful, his hands shaking by his sides as he looked to Virgil. “I’m sorry!”

Tycho gripped Virgil’s arm tight as he kept him upright, steadying him as he began to sway on him feet.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a hushed voice. Virgil swallowed hard, trying to focus as he looked on Tycho’s face.

He nodded shortly, fighting through the urge to just curl up into a ball. He wasn’t sure what was happening, and that was more frightening than anything.

“Just… need to go,” he whimpered.

“Where?” Tycho asked, loosening his grip a little as Virgil moved to find his footing.

“Do you need me to get Scott?” Alan asked from next to him, making him jump a little.

“No,” Virgil huffed, shifting on his crutches. “Don’t tell… I just need to… lay down,” he tried to get out, his voice shaking. “Need rest,” he managed, his brain not co-operating with the supply of words.

“Virg, I’m so…” Gordon began but was cut off by Sally moving towards him.

“Gordon, haven’t you got some maintenance to do on Thunderbird 4?” she asked, trying to distract him away from the situation.

“But…” he protested, looking on helplessly. Guilt was running rampant through him and he just wanted to take everything he’d said back.

Sally move around to table to stand next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“You both need to cool off,” she reasoned. “Go. I’ll let you know when he’s ready.”

Gordon swallowed hard, eyes swimming as he turned sharply and headed towards the lower stairs, past Virgil, looking ahead and trying not to turn back.

“Virgil,” Sally called, drawing the three remaining men’s attention. “I think it’s best you go cool down a bit too.”

Virgil nodded numbly.

“Just tell me where and I’ll help you get there,” Tycho offered with a soft smile. Virgil tried to return it, failing miserably as the shock of the encounter still pulsed through him.

“Alan,” Sally called, the blonde boy turning with a sad look on his face towards her; he’d always hated confrontation, and now just stood next to Tycho and Virgil, looking a little lost. “Take Gordon the rest of his breakfast down and see if he needs anything,” she smiled at him.

Alan nodded and, with one last concerned look at Virgil, made to follow her instructions.

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere you can relax,” Tycho ushered, gently putting pressure on Virgil’s arm in a bid to get him to move.

“I’m, sorry,” he gasped out, his mind clearing just enough to begin processing what had happened. Hurt, embarrassment and fear still ran through his like wildfire, but he was gaining enough control to begin to realise the gravity of what had happened. “I shouldn’t have…”

Sally moved next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders gently, pulling his head towards her chest which he leant into, leaning his forehead into the crook of her neck and letting out a soft sob.

She stroked her hand through his ruffled hair as she shushed him.

“It happens,” she reasoned. “It’s done, it’s over. The best thing you can do now is cool off and deal with this later.”

“Thanks, Grandma,” he sniffed, fighting to regain his composure through the haze of emotions that was still assaulting him. Sally gave him a soft smile as she released him and allowed him to stand back up.

Looking over Virgil’s shoulder to Tycho, she noted the soft affection in the other man’s eyes as he looked over Virgil with concern.

She was not the kind of person who missed interactions around her; after Jeff’s disappearance, she had kept a closer eye on the boys than normal, taking note when one was struggling and, usually with Kayo or Brains’ help, manipulating circumstances around the island to give them time together or apart. Whatever was needed.

But now this… this was a look she hadn’t seen for a long time. Not since she’d seen it in Jeff’s eyes the first time he laid eyes on Lucille at the tender age of 15 at one of those awful county fairs they used to attend as guests of honour.

She’d been watching them interact for the whole length of time Tycho had been on the island during his visits and, despite her trepidation for all that had come before, she was sure that this was one situation which wouldn’t need her meddling.

“Tycho, dear,” she drew his attention away, watching closely as he gave Virgil’s arm a quick squeeze before turning to look at her, his eyes their usual, placid state as a weak, friendly smile replaced the tight lipped, concerned expression that had been resting there. “Would you mind helping Virgil back up to his room?”

Tycho shook his head.

“Not at all, if that’s okay with you,” he nudged Virgil lightly.

The question took both Virgil and Sally by surprise.

“N-no, I don’t… You don’t have to,” Virgil supplied for what felt like the twentieth time.

Tycho smiled softly, readjusting his grip on Virgil’s arm. Neither were sure it was particularly needed, but neither complained.

“Good,” Sally replied, moving to make eye contact with Virgil. “You need to rest.” He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. “No buts, no ‘I’m fine’s’, no nothing. You get your butt to your room and you stay there. Get some sleep if you can. Paint, write music, you even have permission to play video games. Just don’t do anything strenuous.”

Well there was no arguing with that. Virgil hung his head with a sigh.

“Ok,” he conceded, making to move away. “I’ll… try.”

“There’s a good lad,” Sally smiled fondly, patting him on the shoulder. “Now off you go.”

Virgil gave a short nod and shifted his weight, the movement breaking the contact of Tycho’s hand on his arm and the slimmer man stepped back a little, attention still focused on Virgil’s movements, intent on making sure he didn’t need any help.

“This way,” Virgil murmured, nodding towards the stairwell.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've got to start somewhere, right?

Well this wasn’t the way he had thought, _hoped_ , his brain corrected him, that he would be getting Tycho into his room.

Now his senses were coming back to him, the main thing his mind was focusing on was the shame he now felt after the display downstairs.

He was supposed to be the mature one, always emotionally stable, reliable and level headed, the peacemaker.

What would everyone think about him now? Gordon wouldn’t keep quiet about his outburst and Alan… oh god, Alan must have been terrified…

As they approached his bedroom door, Tycho close behind, Virgil’s chest began to tighten as the conversation replayed through his heads, Gordon’s words drilling into his mind.

_“Says the guy who nearly brought down this whole set-up for the sake of some dick.”_

Is that really what he thought of him? Is that really what they all thought?

Gasping for breath as a wave of anxiety hit full force, Virgil stopped suddenly, only feet from his door, dropping his right crutch where it landed on the floor with a clatter as his hand came up to his chest, trying to pull at an invisible force, clutching at the material, trying to get some reprieve from the pressure building there.

Tycho was caught off guard and bumped into Virgil as he stopped.

“Sorry!” he said quickly, moving round to face Virgil. “Are you okay?”

Virgil tried to nod, his head swirling again, pain from his knee, his arm, his head, all mixing with the emotions rushing over him and overwhelming him.

It seemed like only a couple of seconds had passed as he closed his eyes, swaying in place.

But when his eyes opened, he found himself laid down in bed, his bad knee propped up on a plush pillow underneath this thick duvet which had been tucked in around his body and under his arms leaving his chest, neck and head exposed.

Blinking a couple of times, he looked around his room.

The blinds that usually blocked out the sun’s rays which spilled in through the window were slanted now, allowing beams of bright lights to spill across the floor, highlighting his clo…

Wait… His clothes which had previously littered he floor space between the bed and the wardrobe were gone?

He shuffled a little to sit up, taking in the area of his room.

It had always been his favourite space, a large, airy room with a huge window at the far side and en-suite which sat just behind the left side of his king size bed (the only size he would tolerate). Over the far side of the room, his painting easel sat with another half finished work of the seascape his window looked out onto, with several finished and half-finished pieces on the floor behind it. Next to that was his work bench.

Previously covered in different drone components (his newest hobby had been building miniaturised drone versions of the Thunderbirds to annoy Scott which had inadvertently led to the creation of Mini-Max), it was now inhabited by Tycho as he tinkered with a large, glowing object on the counter and spoke in hushed tones into a voice recorder off to the left of where he hunched over.

Looking past him, Virgil saw all of his clothes that had previously been on the floor in neat piles on the larger writing desk next to his wardrobe, ready to be sorted. In fact, everything on the desk had been sorted out, neatly organised around the clothes.

“Tycho?” Virgil blinked, lifting his hand up to shield his eyes from the rays of light that had now begun to cross his vision as the sun moved.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Tycho responded, not looking up from the gadget he was fiddling with. “Don’t mean to be rude, just give me a moment,” he continued, movements slow and careful.

Virgil lifted himself into a proper sitting position as he waited to Tycho to be finished with whatever he was doing, jumping a little when the man sprang back from the desk, his movements lightning fast as usual.

“Sorry about that,” Tycho apologised sheepishly, reaching up to the magnification goggles he had been wearing for the delicate fiddling he’d just been doing and removing them. He placed them carefully on the desk and retrieved his usual half rim glasses from his top pocket, placing them easily into position.

“How are you feeling?” he enquired, moving up to a chair which had been pulled up next to the bed.

Virgil watched him move next to him and rubbed his eyes a little. He felt exhausted, his head heavy.

“What happened?” he asked with a yawn, stretching his arms into the air.

As the duvet slipped down and revealed his muscular arms and torso, he was hit by the realisation that he was naked from the waist up.

“Did you undress me?” he snapped his gaze to Tycho who had the decency to blush when Virgil caught him staring.

“I, uh, not exactly,” he murmured, embarrassed as he looked away. “You had another… I’m guessing they’re anxiety attacks you get? In the hallway, just outside. Pretty much zoned out, you were in a bit of a state. So I helped you in here, you… uh… undressed, in front of me, well, for the most part… and then you went to bed,” Tycho explained, the blush on his cheeks now matched in colour by Virgil’s own.

“I didn’t,” he shook his head, embarrassment taking over. “I am _so_ sorry, Tycho, I don’t remember, I mean, I didn’t mean…” Virgil tried to explain, words failing him as Tycho grinned at him sheepishly.

“Not like I was complaining,” he admitted with a smile before becoming a little more serious. “So you don’t remember anything from the hallway? It’s been a few hours, though you’ve been sleeping for most of that.”

Virgil shook his head, expression growing dark.

“Back when… when I had a lot of stuff going on, if I got really stressed, I mean like _really_ ,” he emphasised the word with a raise of his eyebrows, “stressed, I would have these like… they were like blackouts where I was just on autopilot. Doctors said it was a coping mechanism for stress but… I haven’t had one in…” he thought for a second, a dark wave of realisation hitting him. “About 4 years,” he finished, voice low.

Since Jason.

A cold shiver ran through him as the name in his mind bought back a thousand memories.

Tycho noticed the shift and reached over to the bedside table, grabbing the packet of pills and glass of water on there to hand to Virgil.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Tycho reasoned, “The trauma of the fall and the pain could be affecting your mind more than you think it might… Here,” he offered the pills and water, “you might want to take your co-codamol sooner rather than later. Not as effective once the pain has already set in.”

Virgil snapped out of his haze as Tycho offered the distraction, mentally shaking himself.

“Oh, thanks,” he went to grab the pills and glass from Tycho’s hand but caught himself. Tycho tilted his head a little at the hesitation, a move which Virgil noted internally was _fucking adorable_ and he _needed_ to try and get him to repeat. “Wait… are you drugging me?” he asked, side-eyeing him.

Tycho let out a bark of laughter.

“No,” he exclaimed. “Why, you think I have a reason to?”

Virgil grinned.

“I dunno… maybe you want me knocked out for a couple of hours so you can go through my stuff?” he countered.

Tycho frowned for a second, gesturing at the now clear floor behind him.

“Oh, thought the clothes folded themselves, did you?” he gave a wicked grin. “I have already _been_ through your belongings, Virgil Tracy, and they are neither as interesting or scandalous as I’d imagined. Rather disappointing, actually,” he grinned, turning back to Virgil.

“You really didn’t have to, you know,” Virgil replied in a shy tone, dipping his head a little bit. “Also, I don’t know whether to be offended or relieved,” he laughed, relaxing back into the bed a little. His skin began prickling with goose bumps as a breeze rolled over him and he shuffled down into the duvet a little.

“How about both?” Tycho grinned, leaning forward to smile sweetly at Virgil. It took a second for his to realize what he’d said. “Er, I mean, no, don’t be, offended, that, there’s no reason to…” He sighed as he hung his head.

Virgil laughed, a genuine laugh that caught Tycho a little by surprise. He snapped his head up with a smile on his face, looking to Virgil.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh like that,” he admitted, smiling when a blush rose to Virgil’s cheeks.

“Maybe it’s the drugs,” Virgil admitted. “Or the lack there of.”

Tycho nodded thoughtfully as he remembered the drugs he was holding in his hand and re-offered them to Virgil who contemplated them for a moment before accepting. He bit his lip as he popped out two pills and moved to raise them and the glass to his lips.

“Or it might be the company,” he finished, managing to get it out before his confidence faded and he popped his two pills between his lips, swallowing a gulp of water with them immediately and looking away.

Tycho chuckled in return, nervously fiddling with his hands in his lap as he waited for Virgil to finish his drink, taking it back off of him once he’d finished.

“Thank you,” Virgil murmured as his thoughts inevitably slipped back to the morning’s events.

He still felt shame and guilt at the way he had spoken to Gordon, anger at the what Gordon had said and the deep dread and fear of having the past that he’d tried so hard to bury dug back up.

And Tycho… he’d witnessed it all but…

“Why are you here?” Virgil asked without thinking. He was seriously starting to doubt his mental filter would ever fully return.

Tycho looked a little taken aback, the smile on his face fading.

“By here, you mean,” he looked around for a moment, “your room?” He became a bit sheepish. “I, uh, bought some stuff up here to work on. Brains is working on the transport modifications so I thought…” He paused, measuring his words. “I can go, if you want some space. I just didn’t want you to wake up on your own not knowing what had happened.”

Virgil felt a rush of affection towards the other man. He suddenly wanted to reach out to him, to touch him.

“No,” he responded quickly. “I… I’m not quite…” he swallowed, “expressing myself properly at the moment,” he admitted. “I… thank you, for staying. It’s…. It means a lot.” Tycho beamed at him and his stomach gave a jump.

“I meant…” he hesitated. Was this a road he wanted to go down?

Looking up at Tycho, he saw the uncertainty in his gaze despite his smile, uncertainty he’d put there, and his mind was made up.

“I meant that, you’ve… you’re seeing me at my worst. This morning. Before, in Thunderbird 2… I’m usually more… in control, than this. I don’t usually…” he paused, swallowing hard. “Don’t feel like you have to stay out of… I don’t know… pity, I guess?”

Tears began to prick at his eyes as the words spilled out.

“I’m not…” _Worth it_ his mind supplied. He shook his head, catching himself before saying it. “I don’t want to take you away from your work because I’m…” he looked down as he gestured down to his knee. “Broken, I guess,” he gave a bitter laugh. “Just… don’t feel like you have to stay. I know this is all a bit dramatic. Especially this morning…”

The few moments it took Tycho to process Virgil’s words seemed like an eternity as he folded his hands into his lap.

He didn’t expect the shift of the bed next to him as Tycho moved to sit down next to him.

A soft gasp left his lips as he looked up to meet Tycho’s gaze and found his face mere inches from his own, one calloused hand reaching around his neck and pulling him closer as he moved in to kiss him.

The meeting of their lips was soft at first, an expression, a silent reassurance, but a soft moan leaving Tycho’s mouth as he moved to deepen the kiss set a fire in Virgil.

Suddenly, every image from the dreams, the fantasies he’d had about him came rushing back.

He gasped into the kiss as his own hands rose up to cup Tycho’s face, pulling him closer, tilting his head at just the right angle to allow deeper access as their tongues slipped out to meet each other.

It felts like hours but in truth, it was only a few more seconds before they broke apart, gasping for breath, eyes hooded with desire making contact as they both contemplated their next move.

“I thought that might be a better way to explain how I felt about the situation than a continuation of my rambling attempt this morning,” Tycho breathed, eyes flicking back to Virgil’s now kiss swollen lips, wandering down to his bare chest and back up, a hunger flashing in his eyes that Virgil hadn’t seen directed at him in a long time.

“That was a very good way,” Virgil smiled back, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of him. No more dancing around, no more wondering. This was mutual. “In fact, if you’d like to explain it a bit more, I’m all ears,” he smirked, feeling a tiny sliver of his old self slide back into place.

Tycho let out a soft laugh, deeper than usual and laced with lust as he gazed at Virgil, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

It was all Virgil could do not to groan as he watched the action.

“It would be my pleasure,” Tycho murmured, shifting up the bed towards Virgil, his hand now reaching for his chest, a slight hesitation before it went to settle in its previous position on his neck, pressure from the palm on the pulse point creating a sort of comforting feeling as he leaned into Virgil once more, both men closing their eyes as their lips met.

This time, Virgil groaned into the kiss, hands back in their rightful place on Tycho’s neck, drawing him as close as he could as their tongues met once more. Tycho whimpered into the kiss as Virgil seized his bottom lip between his teeth and tugged without thinking.

There was a sudden rush of movement as Tycho kicked off his shoes and climbed breathlessly onto the bed, straddling Virgil’s legs as he did so and pressing himself immediately back up against him.

Virgil leant forward to kiss him again, taken aback by the sudden change of position but not complaining as Tycho’s hands wrapped loosely around his neck for a moment before moving down his back, trimmed nails digging into the soft, bare flesh there and dragging a line up his spine.

A shudder ran through Virgil’s body, sending heat straight to his cock, which was starting to harden under the attention. He let out a gasp, his hands moving to Tycho’s hips, pulling them towards his body, grinding up into him.

Even with the duvet separating them, Tycho felt the pressure and broke the kiss to throw his head back, a long moan escaping his lips.

Virgil took the opportunity to nip at the soft skin exposed there, kissing and licking as he went, sucking on Tycho’s pulse point, the latter whimpering at the sensation, biting his bottom lip in an attempt to stop any more sound escaping him.

“ _Fuck,”_ he hissed, trying to maintain some self-control.

“You might not want to do that again or I can’t promise I’ll be able to stop myself from taking you right here, right now,” Virgil growled against his neck through ragged breaths, his chest heaving as Tycho settled back on his lap, carefully placing his legs in a way which didn’t affect Virgil’s knee and staring for a moment.

His eyes were blown wide, almost black with lust as he looked Virgil up and down, taking in heavy breaths to try and control his body.

“The back scratching?” Tycho asked softly. Virgil nodded, every fibre of his being focused on restraining himself, to stop him from reaching out and grabbing Tycho again. “Noted.”

A beat of silence fell between them as they just stared, eyes locked, chests still rising and falling quickly as they tried to catch their breath until Tycho looked down for a moment.

“What if I don’t want you to stop yourself?” Tycho asked softly, casting his gaze up, eyes still wide but full of an emotion Virgil couldn’t quite place.

He bit back a groan, thoughts running through his head at a million miles an hour.

_‘This is all happening so fast! But I want him… badly. And he wants me… Should I wait? Should I say no? Should I…’_

His thoughts were cut off sharply by the loud siren that sounded throughout the house. Tycho’s body jolted with surprise as he looked down to Virgil.

The moment could have been awkward, but when a grin passed across Tycho’s face, the tension melted away. Virgil returned an easy smile.

“We should head down, just in case,” he reasoned. Tycho nodded, carefully removing himself from the bed and finding his shoes. Virgil shifted himself and began to get dressed in silence, both stealing glances at each other as they did, like awkward teenagers.

“Are you going to be okay getting downstairs?” Tycho asked softly as they both headed towards the door. Virgil was about to respond when he caught the sudden urge to turn and look at Tycho. He did just that, stopping and turning to face him. The slimmer man looked concerned for a moment, a look which faded when Virgil, without warning, surged forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

Tycho almost melted, his entire body on fire, cursing that damned siren as the need he felt for Virgil, the physical need to have his muscular body against his own lithe frame, to feel those strong arms pinning him down, to feel completely and utterly _taken_ pounded through his body.

The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds but it left them both breathless once more.

“I’ll be fine,” Virgil finally responded. “Just…” he bit his lip for a moment. Tycho fought the urge to drag him back over to the bed and start kissing him again. “Just promise me we’ll, uh… continue this later?”

 _This is it_ , Tycho thought as he watched the fear flash over Virgil’s eyes as he waited for a response. _This is the moment,_ as it took every fibre of his being to stop him from kissing him again.

“Of course,” he croaked, heart leaping as Virgil’s smile returned, a brilliant, toothy grin that was too sincere to be anything but genuine.

“G-Great,” Virgil confirmed, opening the door and hobbling out as fast as he could as if having the same thoughts of returning to what they were doing.

 _This is the moment_ , Tycho thought as he held in a sigh, watching Virgil move down the hallway with red creeping up his neck, still resisting the urge to grab him and drag him back into his room, _that I fall in love_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thank you to everyone who is commenting, leaving kudos and reading this, I'm loving hearing what you think and it's really keeping me motivated!
> 
> Working on some pretty big chapters at the moment, there might even be some smut coming soon! ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's not happy and Tycho's actually on the island to do something, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a two for one kind of day!  
> Be prepared for lots of emotions!
> 
> I've just finished Chapter 13 but I'm pacing myself (or trying to) with posting so you guys don't go too long without an update!
> 
> Thanks again for all the lovely reviews and comments! You all make my day! <3

He should have been concentrating on what John was saying as he urgently explained about the 16 people trapped by rising water from mudslides in California. He should have been paying attention to Gordon and Alan making suggestions, planning out, talking about who would pilot Thunderbird 2.

He should have been listening when the GDF confirmed they had exhausted their resources and needed them there urgently.

But the only thing Scott could concentrate on as Virgil and Tycho appeared together, coming down from the bedrooms, smiles on both of their faces and exchanging looks that could only be described as longing as they made their way to separate seats on opposite sides of the conversation pit, was the _huge fucking love-bite_ on Tycho’s neck and the deep sense of dread that settled in the pit of his stomach.

Tycho must have caught him staring, as the next moment, he was stood back up, addressing Scott directly.

“Scott? Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?” he offered in his usual, kind voice.

Scott finally broke out of his trance like state and shook his head.

“Uh, no, Tycho. Thank you. Just…” He turned to look at Virgil who, like everyone else, was watching him expectantly. “Sorry John, I got distracted,” he admitted, turning back to the holographic form of his younger brother floating in front of him.

The holographic John huffed.

“Really, Scott? Fine. You get going in Thunderbird 1 to do recon and rescue who you can. Alan is taking control of Thunderbird 2 with Gordon on this run. They’re taking the heavy duty flood rescue modules. That should be enough to reach everyone who currently needs help but we’re monitoring the situation.”

“What about me?” Virgil suddenly piped up from across the room, looking directly at John. “There must be something I can do?”

An awkward beat of silence fell across the room.

“Virgil, you _do_ realise you’re recovering from a dislocated knee, right?” he asked tentatively.

Virgil huffed.

“Of course, I just don’t want to sit here being useless while the rest of you jet off across the world to help people. There must be something I can do?” he looked to Scott. “Monitoring calls? Talking to ground crews on scene?”

“We’ve got that covered, Virgil,” John assured him. “The only thing you should be doing is focusing on resting up.”

“But…” Virgil began, only to be cut off by Scott.

“No,” he said firmly. “We don’t have time for this. Gordon, Alan, head to Thunderbird 2, now. We’ve got to go.” As he stepped onto his launch module, he threw a sympathetic look to Virgil. “I’m sorry, Virg,” he added.

“Oh sweet!” Gordon shouted from across the room. “Does this mean I get to go down the death slide?”

As his module began to turn, Scott had a panicked look on his face.

A smile crept up onto Virgil’s face despite the disappointment of being side-lined as Scott’s voice faded with the rotation of the machine as he called out.

“No, go down to the ha…”

“I heard go down the slide,” Gordon shrugged. “Anyone else?”

“Just don’t forget to grab at the end,” Virgil chuckled lowly, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of uselessness that had taken up residence in his stomach.

He hesitated for a moment as Gordon made an excited noise and ran over to the launch module.

“And Gordon?”

“Yeah Virg?” he replied, leaning around the corner, a worried look on his face. This morning had not left his mind, even as he’d worked on 4.

“Take care of her and she’ll take care of you. And be safe,” he offered with a weak smile.

Gordon looked at Virgil with an unreadable look for a short moment before nodding, his lips tight, emotions running high even in the looks between them.

“Will do. Love you, Virg,” he replied as he got into position and the hatch entrance flipped.

It would have been a really nice moment. Had it not been for the excited screaming that came from the other side of the launch tube seconds later as Gordon was sent flying down the tube.

Tycho let out a soft laugh, echoed by Virgil.

“He’s gonna be so pissed when he gets to the bottom and realises he’s dressed in my uniform,” he all but cackled.

*-*-*-*

It was a surreal feeling, watching from the balcony as Thunderbird 2 swung round the outlying islands to head off towards California.

Being inside, he’d never realised just how large and imposing it looked as it soared through the sky. But the feeling that filled him now wasn’t one of awe or wonder.

It was the cold dread he felt when they went to some of the worst rescues; the ones where they knew that either the chances of bringing back anyone alive were slim and that it was more recovery than rescue, and the ones where they knew there was a higher than normal chance one of them might not be making it back alive.

For all the throwing themselves into danger they did, even they knew there were limits.

As he watched Thunderbird 2 disappear out of sight, trying not to think about the implications of what might happen without him there, he felt a gentle hand contact the small of his back. He tensed for a short moment until Tycho appeared at his side, a sympathetic smile on his face.

Virgil wanted nothing more than to melt into his touch, to turn and kiss him again, right here on the living room balcony like no-one else in the world mattered, to take him back to his room and continue where they’d left off.

He tried to convey all of this in a look, one of longing and lust. Tycho seemed to understand, as moments later a blush was creeping up his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. “It can’t be easy to see her flying off without you.”

“Never is,” Virgil admitted. There had only been one other time in his life when he’d watched her fly away without him from the island and again, that had been…

He mentally shook himself, trying to dispel the thoughts of Jason and that awful time from his mind.

‘ _Not while I’m here with Tycho. Not while I’m enjoying this. Not while I’m healing’,_ he thought to himself. He forced a smile to his face, placing his own hand on the small of Tycho’s back, both just standing, enjoying the contact for a moment.

Tycho, without as many reservations as Virgil, sighed as he leaned into the embrace, resting his head on Virgil’s broader shoulders and relaxing a little. The small action bought a huge smile to Virgil’s face.

He no longer cared that this was moving fast.

This moment, right now, was perfect.

They stood for a few more moments before someone clearing their throat behind them tore them from their own little paradise.

Tycho pulled his hand away and span round first, able to mobilise better than Virgil who had to lean onto his crutches and shift himself around piece-meal.

“Brains!” he chirped happily, gesturing a greeting. “You finally get finished with those pesky bugs?”

Brains looked between the two of them for a moment, a little taken aback at what he had seen.

“Uh, y-yes,” he responded after a moment, unsure how to proceed. “W-was I interrupting?” he asked cautiously.

Both men on the balcony flushed a furious red.

“No, we were just enjoying a…” Tycho looked to Virgil with a sweet smile, “contemplative moment,” he explained. “Did you need me now?”

“M-maybe,” Brains eyed his suspiciously, his eyes suddenly travelling to his neck and going wide. “Oh my, Tycho, y-you’ve h-hurt yourself!” He pointed to the spot on his neck.

The very spot, Virgil realised, that he had left a rather prominent love-bite on the sensitive skin.

Tycho blushed even brighter red.

“Oh, I, ah, yes. I, er, need to be more careful?” he offered, drawing the collar of his shirt up over the bruise and shooting a sly smile to Virgil.

Brains shook his head.

“As long as y-you’re okay,” he sighed. He looked exhausted, dark rings around his eyes. “And y-yes, the bugs in the communication code for the transportation units are done, I j-just needed a second opinion on the r-relay set up, if you’ve g-got a moment?”

“Of course,” Tycho chirped, “it’s down in the build room, I take it?”

Brains nodded the affirmative.

“Y-yes. I’ll meet you d-down there. I just need some c-coffee to p-perk me up a bit, and I’ll b-be back down.”

“Great!” Tycho responded. “I’ll head down in a mo.”

Virgil couldn’t lie to himself, he was more than a little disappointed that Tycho would have to do some actual work, but as a fuzzy feeling began to creep over him, the painkillers finally kicking in and beginning to numb his body, he suddenly felt like the hours of sleep that had come before were not enough.

He watched with heavy eyes as Brains, looking like he felt, moved across to the coffee machine in the far corner of the kitchen and began searching the cupboard for his special brand of coffee, one that Alan had dubbed his ‘death brew’ after a cup of it had kept him awake for 36 hours.

So intently focused on what was going on in the kitchen, it took him a couple of seconds to realise that Tycho had turned to him and was grinning as he regarded him, slipping his hand into Virgil’s and lacing their fingers together. Finally caught up, Virgil looked down at Tycho, now stood up and in the open, noticing their height difference; Virgil only had a few inches on him, but as Tycho gazed up at him with that delightful smile on his face, Virgil wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and kiss him again.

“You should get some rest. Those pills will be kicking in soon,” Tycho said fondly, giving Virgil’s hand a quick squeeze as he moved to face him.

Virgil nodded the affirmative, heart rate increasing as Tycho moved, wondering if Brains would say anything if he saw him pin Tycho against the balcony and have his way with him, because the way he was staring at him with fire in his eyes, the same fire that had been there when they had been making out on his bed like horny teenagers, was causing Virgil’s cock to show real interest.

Tycho seemed to notice, his eyes drifting south and widening as he noticed the prominent tent in Virgil’s loose jogging bottoms.

Suddenly, he looked like he was contemplating all his life choices up to this moment and whether it was worth losing a billion-dollar contract for the sake of jumping into bed with Virgil immediately. It was _pretty_ tempting.

“Fuck,” Tycho hissed, breathing hard, trying his best not to lean into Virgil. “I want to stay,” he admitted breathlessly, “but…”

“I know,” Virgil swallowed, willing his blood to stop pounding in his ears, to allow him some measure of control over himself. “You need to…”

“I want to kiss you,” Tycho admitted suddenly. “again, and again… I want to… I want to do _that_ ,” he gestured to the stairs up to the bedrooms, “again. I…”

“Tycho, are you c-coming?” Brains called from the kitchen as he made to head back down to the workshop.

Tycho hesitated for a moment, biting his bottom lip.

“Be there in a minute!” he called back, caught between wanting to run and do his work and stay and do something that was currently _wholly_ more enticing.

Virgil was rock hard now, contemplating how easily and quickly he could get back up to his room without being seen in this state versus how long it would take to let it go away on its own down here and if the medication would render him unable to move before that happened.

“Can I…” Tycho hesitated, a flash of something akin to fear in his eyes as he mulled over his words, biting his bottom lip and looking down. “I know it’s a very forward request but,” he took a deep breath. “When I’m done, when everything’s finished, can I… Can I come back? To your room, I mean. Can I…”

“Stay?” Virgil finished for him. Tycho nodded shyly, looking up with some measure of nerves in his gaze.

Virgil squeezed the hand that still slotted over his gently.

“Of course,” he smiled, trying to ignore the torrent of thoughts that ran through his mind, visions of what Tycho would look like with his head thrown back in pleasure as he pressed into him. He swallowed hard. “Any time. Just come straight in,” he confirmed.

Relief lit up Tycho’s face as the slimmer man’s frame relaxed tension he wasn’t even aware he was holding onto.

“Good,” he replied in a breath. “I’ll see you later then?”

“You’d better,” Virgil responded with a smile.

Tycho grinned.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

One last squeeze of his hand and Tycho turned heel, almost running to the hangar stairs, as if worried that if he lingered, if he looked back, the magnetic attraction between them would have him back on the balcony.

Virgil sighed as he watched him disappear down the steps, contemplating his options.

A loud rumbling in his stomach caught him off guard, a sudden realisation that he hadn’t eaten since yesterday evening hitting him.

“That’s not good,” he mused to himself as he braced himself back on his crutches and began to hobble over to the automated kitchen module to see what was on offer, thoughts of Tycho and his lips still at the forefront of his mind as he moved slowly, willing his erection away and just _praying_ that no-one needed the kitchen for at least the next 15 minutes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Depictions of panic attacks.
> 
> Also contains tired, angry Scott.

They’d been at it for hours. Dexterous fingers fitting into places with some difficulty, the constant pounding on the misshapen surfaces, trying to get the pressure just right, the fiddly details but finally, finally, the prototype relay modifier was done.

Both Brains and Tycho took a step back for a moment, admiring their work. It wasn’t the neatest, but it worked and it could be replicated with a proper aesthetic in an auto-builder once the componentry was added, and that was all that mattered.

“S-so,” Brains turned back to his now cold coffee, chugging the last dregs of it as they moved to the office chairs next to the computers to begin code input for the final stage. “You and V-Virgil?”

Tycho, in the middle of sipping from his own water bottle, choked a little as he inhaled some of the water in shock at the question.

After a couple of minutes of hacking coughing and Brains furiously apologising, Tycho regained some of his composure.

“That obvious, is it?” he coughed with a smile, eyes red.

Brains grinned a little.

“W-when you’re stood on the b-balcony basically holding each other like s-something out of a b-bad romance novel? Y-yes, it’s pretty obvious,” he grinned.

Tycho blushed, memories of their encounter earlier in the day still fresh in his mind.

“Well, ah, we’ll try and be a bit more discreet,” he said sheepishly. “Don’t want to make any one uncomfortable.”

Brains smiled softly. He liked Tycho. He was genuine, emotive, wore his heart on his sleeve. It wasn’t often people with his intelligence had such strong emotional responses, and it was refreshing on a level he couldn’t explain.

He was also incredibly fond of Virgil, not only as a member of his adoptive family but as an individual who he had spent many hours talking over his ship with, working alongside to retrofit and repair and as the one person always willing to go above and beyond and get his hands dirty to help with any repairs needed, even on ships that were not his own.

“He’s a g-good guy, Tycho,” Brains sighed. “B-but he’s been through a lot.” He hesitated. “And I don’t j-just mean this past week.”

Tycho raised an eyebrow.

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the argument he and Gordon had this morning, would it?”

Brains posture stiffened. There was an unspoken agreement within the family; no-one talks about anyone else’s pasts without explicit consent. No-one gossips, no-one breaks trust, especially to people outside of the family.

“I…” Brains hesitated. “It’s n-not my place to go int-to details,” he explained carefully, “and I’m s-sure Virgil will tell you when h-he’s ready, but…” he chose his words carefully, “j-just be careful with him. H-he’s…” There were so many words that one could use to describe Virgil, but none of them seemed to fit in that particular moment. “He’s a g-good guy,” Brains repeated. “J-just, don’t hurt him.”

Tycho was taken aback.

“I… I would never,” he gaped at Brains. “If there’s one thing I can promise you,” he assured him, “I will _never_ hurt anyone, especially someone as amazing, no, as wonderful as him.”

“It’s not m-me you’ll have to convince,” Brains sighed, looking up to the roof as the proximity alarm sounded.

“T-that’ll be Thunderbird 1 coming back in in the n-next few minutes. We should clear out. We c-can finish this tomorrow anyway. I’ll meet you upstairs,” he smiled, gathering an armful of his tools and heading upstairs.

Tycho nodded, looking to the clock on the wall.

20:18 – had they really been at this for over six hours?

His thoughts drifted up to Virgil, wondering if he’d be sleeping or if he was waiting for him… _naked, fisting his cock, moaning my name_ his brain supplied, unbidden. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the heat beginning to pool in his groin.

He didn’t know what the night would actually bring, but he could dream.

He tried to focus as he gathered his tools back into his pouch and ignore the thrumming _need_ that coursed through him.

It wasn’t a common thing, both him feeling attraction and he being so eager to move so fast. Usually, relationships were full of checks, both personal and moral, making sure the person he was seeing was not a member of the press, not affiliated with any corporate rivals, that they weren’t just after a wad of cash as soon as they could get their hands on it, that they weren’t just a celebrity ‘collector’…

Tycho shivered a little. He had experienced far too many people only after him for him money, for the fame of having slept with him, to steal ideas from him as he slept after the act.

But Virgil wasn’t like that. Could _never_ be like that. He may have only known him a short while, but Tycho’s gut instinct was doing nothing to warn him away, and that was _usually_ a good sign.

The moment he had met Virgil face to face, on the patio of the island, he had felt this… how to describe it? A tugging sensation, like the two were linked by some invisible rope that stretched and pulled uncomfortably when they were not close. It was more apparent when they were in the same room, and judging by his actions and words, Virgil definitely felt the attraction as well.

Another shiver ran through his body as his mind replayed the moan he had let out earlier into their kiss when Tycho had raked his nails up his back.

He remembered his words, practically growled into his skin; _“You might not want to do that again or I can’t promise I’ll be able to stop myself from taking you right here, right now.”_

Tycho fought back a moan, his eyelids fluttering closed as he leant against the workbench, mindful he didn’t have a lot of time left as the Thunderbird 1 proximity alarm beeped insistently.

He suddenly wished he hadn’t stopped, that he’d raked his nails, again and again up Virgil’s back, that he’d driven him wild enough that the two of them had ended up naked, a tangle of limbs, both covered in sweat as they pressed their bodies together.

Heat built in his groin as he bit back a moan, wondering if going to Virgil’s room in this kind of state was a good idea, wondering if this was moving too fast, if they should lay down more foundations, if they should talk about things and how they were going to approach this.

He tried to clear his mind by sorting his tools back into their proper places.

Packing up the last of this things, he hurriedly made his exit from the rom as an electronic voice sounded over the tannoy system within the hangar.

“Thunderbird one docking sequence initiated. Clear the area. Repeat. Thunderbird one docking sequence initiated. Clear the area.”

He closed the door and locked it behind him as he left the build room, heading up the stairs to the lounge as the walls began to vibrate a little, the rockets of Thunderbird 1 shaking the structure as it came in to land.

Not for the first time, he marvelled at the construction of the island, the way everything was secured and double secured, noting how the vibrations were mostly absorbed by the huge dampening steel beams throughout the structure. Whoever designed it had thought of _everything._

Making his way up to past the control booth, he vaguely registered the mirrored glass as he went past, turning to look at his reflection when something caught his eye.

He stopped, turning to face the mirrored surface and take in his reflection. His eyes were ringed with dark circles, hair all askew from running his hands through it as he processed too many thoughts throughout the day.

But that wasn’t anything new. What _was_ new was the large, purpling bruise on his neck; the love bite Virgil had left earlier.

Tycho ran his fingers gently over the marked skin, a shiver running through him as he did so.

Memories of Virgil’s lips and teeth on the sensitive skin overloaded him, the tingle of arousal spreading from his crotch out to the rest of his body.

He gritted his teeth as he looked back at his reflection, pupils blown.

_‘Fuck’_ he thought to himself, _‘I really am in deep here.’_

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he thought about his options from here. On one hand, all he’d had to eat today was a bagel Brains had thoughtfully provided around lunchtime, some hours ago.

On the other hand, Virgil was up in his room, likely waiting and (hopefully), thinking the same things he was.

A grumble from his stomach convinced his mind of a quick detour, just to grab something small.

He pulled himself away from the mirror, willing the excited heat that raced around his body to ebb away, trying his best to banish thoughts of Virgil naked and moaning from his mind and failing quite miserably.

*-*-*-*

Scott was exhausted by the time he made it back up to the lounge. Caked in mud, arms aching, head pounding from dehydration, he was at the end of his tether when Tycho appeared from the hangar stairwell. He watched his with suspicious eyes as the scientist looked up the stairs leading to the bedrooms for a contemplative moment. He watched as his body shifted with a heavy sigh before he turned back towards the kitchen, a wide smile on his face.

He didn’t know why, but the smile resting on his face at that moment made Scott furious.

Who the hell did this guy think he was? Strolling on and off the island as he please, in and out of their ships at all hours, toying with Virgil.

Part of his brain, the rational part, was screaming for him to stop as he marched after Tycho. But that rational part was drowned out by the part that was replaying the past four years, the hurt on Virgil’s face that had taken months to completely vanish, the tears that had wet Scott’s shirt that first night as he had clutched at him like a child and just cried, sobbing and screaming until he’d passed out against his chest.

Scott had vowed that he would never let anyone do that to Virgil again. Just because this guy was a guest, that didn’t give him a free pass. Even if he was helping them. He had no right to mess with Virgil’s heart. No-one did.

Had Scott been thinking rationally, not only would he not have approached Tycho from behind where he stood in front of the automated kitchen module making food, but he certainly wouldn’t have grabbed him and spun him around the way he did, all but slamming him into the corner of the units, trapping him.

The shock in Tycho’s eyes as he breathed in sharply, taken by surprise almost made him hesitate.

“Scott!” Tycho flinched, trying to step away from him. There was fear in his eyes, and seeing it bought a little bit of sense back into Scott’s exhausted brain.

“Sorry,” he said sharply, still staring at Tycho intently. The inventor swallowed hard.

“Did you…” Tycho’s eyes darted around the environment, looking for an escape route, “uh, need something?” he finished, trying not to shake as Scott’s form loomed over him.

Scott hesitated as he watched Tycho’s reaction, guilt dousing the anger he had felt building in him since he’d first noticed the love bite on Tycho’s neck this morning. He sighed, gaining back a little more control of his emotions and taking a step back.

Remorse hit him as he watched Tycho visibly exhale, the panic on his face beginning to slide away.

“We need to talk,” Scott shot at him, trying to keep the stern look in his eyes, struggling as Tycho almost cowered before him.

“What…” Tycho tried, chest heaving. “What was… have I done something wrong?”

“Yes,” was Scott’s immediate response. Tycho’s eyes went wide.

“What…”

“No,” Scott countered himself. “Kind of,” he tried to explain as Tycho eyed him, the fear creeping back.

“You and Virgil,” Scott finally managed after a couple of seconds, gritting his teeth.

Tycho began to blush furiously, his body tensing suddenly.

“What about it?” he challenged, voice shaking. Scott was almost impressed at the display of defiance.

“If you hurt him,” Scott hissed with a lot more malice than he actually felt, “I’ll kill you.”

“Why would I hurt him?” Tycho asked, sounding genuinely shocked.

Scott was taken aback. The question completely threw him.

“Because… I…” Scott was lost for words. The words ‘ _everyone does’_ died on his lips.

That’s wasn’t true. Maybe in his head, in his awful dreams where Virgil was betrayed time and time and time again until he finally lost his mind it was, but here, in reality…

“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. His shoulders slumping as realisation of how much of a dick he was being hit him. “I really don’t.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “Fuck, Tycho, I’m sorry,” he all but whispered. “I shouldn’t have…” he looked up at the scientist who was regarding him with an unreadable look on his face. “I’m sorry.”

Tycho swallowed hard. Scott’s actions had scared him, truly. It had been a long time since someone had taken that much power away from him without his consent with such a simple action, and it was terrifying. He was here, a guest, powerless, without his usual security and knowledge of all of the places to run to and hide and where defences were and fuck, he was terrified.

A familiar tightness in his chest rose up, clutching at him.

“I wouldn’t… who hurt him?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the caged feeling engulfing his body. “He’s… been badly hurt, hasn’t he?”

“You have no idea,” Scott replied darkly. Taking another step back. He didn’t know how he’d expected this to go, but this wasn’t it.

“I don’t know if I want to,” Tycho admitted, voice still shaking. He honestly didn’t know if he could cope with hearing the details of how someone else broke Virgil’s heart to the point it had caused the attacks he’d seen. “But…” he looked to Scott, fear still in his eyes, but sincerity there too. “I would never hurt him. I…” he hesitated. “I care about him. A lot. I… this isn’t usually the way I would… go about this,” he admitted.

Scott regarded Tycho for a moment.

“I want to believe you,” he admitted, tone still terse. “I want to believe you care about him and you’re not here to use him or hurt him or do anything that would make him be anything but happy,” he sighed. “But it’s hard. After all I’ve seen, after what he’s been through…”

“How bad was it?” Tycho asked hesitantly. The curiosity, as much as he hated to admit it, (he really hated gossip), was really getting to him.

Scott shot him an odd look.

“You sure you want to know?” he asked shortly.

“No,” Tycho admitted, looking down at his feet.

“Then you should probably hear it,” Scott sighed, leaning back onto the kitchen island. Tycho visibly relaxed a little more as the distance between them increased.

“I take it you know who the Hood is?” Scott asked from across the gap. Tycho looked back up, a little surprised.

“I do,” he nodded slowly. He knew enough to know that he was the one responsible for their father’s disappearance and that he hated International Rescue and all they stood for.

Scott sighed deeply, preparing himself.

“He paid someone to infiltrate International Rescue, to gain access to our home, it’s location, our ships,” he explained, voice low and short.

Tycho swallowed.

“That’s… awful,” he whispered, realization dawning on him.

“This person tried to do all of this by seducing Virgil. By lying to him. For months,” Scott explained slowly. “By the time we found out, they’d been together for almost a year. He was in love with the guy, and he turned out to be working for _him_.”

“Fuck,” Tycho breathed. He felt numb for a moment, unsure how to react.

He was trying to process just how someone could do something that low when Scott spoke again.

“He lied to him and when he was found out, all the guy could do was joke about it, as if it… as if it meant nothing and Virgil was just ‘another job’,” he paused. “It broke Virgil’s heart. I didn’t…” Scott stopped sharply, looking away for a moment, eyes closing. “There was a long while I... we never thought he would come back to us. He was so…” he racked his brain for the right word.              

“Broken?” Tycho supplied. Scott nodded, expression dark.

“Completely.” He looked up at Tycho. “And he’s not been the same since. And I… I couldn’t watch as…”

“I would never,” Tycho interrupted, his hands now balled into fists at his side as he spoke, drawing Scott’s full attention, “ever hurt him. I’m not like that,” he all but hissed, the anger that hearing what had happened rising through his body.

It was bad enough that it had happened to anyone, but to happen to someone as sweet and emotionally open as Virgil… it was a wonder he wasn’t more closed to people, more reserved.

No, he still wore his heart on his sleeve, not even trying to hide his emotions. That was just who he was.

Tycho felt another swell of affection rise through his chest to combat the anger he felt. The urge to turn tail and run up to his room and just hold him was almost unbearable.

“I know,” Scott admitted. “Part of me sees it. But there’s still a part of me that…” his breath hitched as he thought about those awful weeks Virgil had vanished, the prospect of him never returning and the shadow it had cast over them all. “I can’t let him go through that again.”

“I understand,” Tycho murmured, heart aching for all of the brothers. He reached a hand out to Scott slowly, reaching for his shoulder. Scott’s form shifted a little as he contemplated grabbed Tycho’s hand to stop the movement but managed to stop himself, letting the inventor make contact with his suit. “I can’t even imagine… he’s lucky to have you,” he gave a weak smile.

Scott was taken aback.

“I…” he flushed a little. “He’s… he’s my little brother,” he said a little dumbly. “He’s been my best friend since, well, as long as I can remember. I couldn’t… I wish I could have stopped it; I wish I could have…”

“You can’t make mistakes for people,” Tycho offered gently, his voice still shaking. “The more you try, the more they do exactly what you tell them not to.”

Scott gave a short snort of laughter. After four younger brothers, that was something he knew to be 100% true.

“Tell me about it,” he huffed a little. He sighed, regretting starting this whole thing, spilling Virgil’s life out to Tycho. He didn’t have the right but…

“I just want you to know before you… He needs a lot,” Scott admitted. “He needs someone who isn’t going to run away when things get tough. He needs stability.”

Tycho swallowed hard.

“I’m not our dad. I can’t tell him what to do, not that he’d listen. Same as I can’t tell you. I just…” Scott sighed, trying to think of the best way to get his point across. “Don’t hurt him,” he repeated. “Please.”

The pleading tone of his voice, the crack of his voice as he almost whispered the last word, the concern in his eyes; he was overwhelmed.

Tycho felt a pang of pity in his stomach.

The love between the brothers, the unbreakable bond that their family bought, especially after all of the trials they had been through was incredible.

Scott was scared, for his brother, for his organisation, for his family. It was totally understandable, he reasoned, and he appreciated his honestly.

“Scott,” Tycho called, drawing Scott’s attention as he began to zone out, thoughts of the past running through his exhausted mind once more. “Thank you. For telling me.”

Scott nodded shortly, still feeling a little guilty.

“I just… I wanted you to know. He would have told you at some point, I’m sure but… I needed you to understand why… why we’re all a little… on edge.”

Tycho nodded shortly.

“I won’t hurt him,” he stated. “I couldn’t… I…” Words failed him. He didn’t know what he felt, he couldn’t put a name to it, but he knew that it meant that he wouldn’t, couldn’t ever do anything to hurt Virgil.

“I know,” Scott admitted with a sigh. “I’m just… scared.”

“Me too,” Tycho gave a weak smile.

Scott returned the weak smile, beginning to sway a little with the effort of staying awake.

“Sorry for scaring you,” Scott said with a yawn, stretching his arms up, his joints popping with the movement. “I… I should go,” he gave a forced smile. “I really am sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“No harm done,” Tycho gave a soft smile, though the fear and panic still fluttering in his chest said otherwise.

Scott shot him a grateful look as he called back a ‘goodnight’ to him and traipsed off towards the bedrooms.

As soon as he vanished around the corner, Tycho inhaled deeply, sliding down the cupboard behind him to the ground, clutching at his chest. He’d managed to hold off the panic attack for this long but finally, through the lack of food, water, the emotions rushing through him and now the bombardment of the encounter with Scott, it had gained traction and was running him down.

His breath hitched as he fought for air against the thick fog of terror that swelled over him. He felt like he was drowning, breaths shallow and heavy, his limbs refusing to co-operate as everything became hazy and unclear.

He wrapped his arms around himself, curling up into a ball, blocking out the entire world and willing it to go away when a pair of soft hands found his own, gripping them and pulling him to his feet.

His body co-operated without protest, following barely heard instructions from a soft voice. His eyes didn’t register anything except blurry shapes in front of him, a rush of movement as his brain tried to catch up, to make sense of it all.

A cold object was placed in his hands and words began drifting out of the mess of colour and sound in front of him.

“Have a drink, at a boy. That’s it, slowly.”

A cold feeling ran deep inside him as he came to the realisation he was drinking ice cold water. The sensation made him gasp suddenly, a grounding feeling through the haze.

Slowly, the world began to take shape around him again, the blurs moving back into position as the chairs in front of him, the table, his own hands and a kind, spectacled face framed by short, grey hair.

“S-Sally,” he choked out, hands clutching at the half empty glass in front of him.

“It’s okay,” she cooed softly. “Take your time. It’s not easy, I know,” she reassured him.

After years of seeing Virgil get like this, she was an expert at bringing people down. Tycho was no exception.

The inventor took a shuddering breath, regaining his composure second by second. The shaking in his hands subsided enough for him to take another sip of his drink, thankful for the cold sensation that ran through him again, grounding him.

Sally regarded him carefully, watching his every move like a hawk, looking for signs of another flare up. After a few more minutes, when she was satisfied that he wasn’t going to slip back into his attack, she took the glass back, moving to refill it from the tap and grabbing his now cooked burger and fries from the automated kitchen module.

Placing it in front of him as he stared, a little numbly at the table, she measured her movements, careful not to move too fast or loudly, lifting the chair opposite Tycho rather than dragging it and sitting slowly.

“You need to eat,” she prompted, relieved when Tycho followed her instructions. His attacks her similar to Virgil’s, she mused as she watched him wolf down his food with a frown. She’d have to start taking food down to them while they worked if they wouldn’t come up until they got like this, totally famished.

“So… you want to talk about it?” she offered as Tycho finished the last bite of his burger.

The fear in his gaze as he looked to her was unexpected, but she remained calm, offering him a reassuring smile.

“I…” he tried, struggling to find the words. Whether because he couldn’t process them or whether he was trying to measure which ones she would believe was still to be seen. “Scott… he… he caught me by surprise,” Tycho admitted, too exhausted to even think about lying. He was never one to do so anyway. “He…”

“Warned you? About Virgil?” Sally guessed with a sigh.

Tycho nodded the affirmative.

She was going to be having words tonight.

“About how he’d been hurt and how…” Tycho swallowed, looking down. There were tears in his eyes when he looked back up. “I would never… I would…”

Sally smiled sympathetically, reaching across the table to place a hand on Tycho’s shoulder.

“I know, son,” she tried in a comforting tone, stroking his shoulder.

She was definitely going to be having words with Scott.

Tycho’s chest heaved again as he drew in short, sharp breaths. Sally reacted quickly, standing him up and pushing him gently towards the stairs.

"Come on, with me," she instructed softly. "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, wow, wow!
> 
> This is turning into a TOTAL beast!
> 
> I'm so so glad everyone is enjoying it, thank you all so much for the comments, I know i keep saying it but they really really help keep me motivated and reading them always brings a smile to my face :)
> 
> I hope you're all prepared for what's coming! Today might be another two-for, we'll see how it goes :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graphic depictions of sexual activity
> 
> Gratuitous amounts of fluff

Virgil was hobbling out of the shower, his arm freshly bandaged and a towel wrapped loosely around his waist when there was a soft rapping on his door.

He couldn’t fight the smile that crossed his lips when he heard the noise.

He had been going over this moment all day in his head as he had worked on his painting which was now sat drying by the window, the seascape nearly finished. His knee had ached as he had stood for over an hour, working soft strokes on top of already dried strokes, pouring his emotions, the trepidation, the hope, the fear and the excitement that he felt into the details, the cresting waves against the rocks, the sunset that now fitted onto it.

His stomach jumped, butterflies waking and going wild.

“Come in,” he answered the knock as he sat on his bed, mind going a million miles an hour, a thousand images rushing around his head, blood pumping.

As the door crept open, he held his breath.

“Virgil?”

He tried to conceal his disappointment as Sally stepped into his room,

“Oh, hi Grandma,” he said softly, forcing a smile.

The disappointment quickly turned to real concern as he spotted the figure behind her, arms curled around himself.

“Tycho!” he breathed, moving to stand, forgetting himself for a moment, his knee aching under the pressure of trying to force himself up without his crutches. He let out a hiss of pain.

The slimmer man looked up at the noise, eyes wide, full of fear and uncertainty. Sally moved to one side, ushering him inside the room.

“I think he caught Scott at a bad time.” She rolled her eyes, voice betraying her anger at the situation. Virgil felt a similar flash of it, the boiling feeling towards his brother rising, soon quelled as Tycho took a couple of uncertain steps into the room, looking to Virgil.

“He could use a friendly face,” she gave a soft smile. Virgil nodded, grabbing his crutches and moving again, wincing slightly at the pain that shot up through his knee as he moved to Tycho.

“I’m fine, really,” the smaller man tried, forcing a weak smile to his face.

Neither of them bought it.

“Ignore him,” she said bluntly. “And ignore Scott,” she directed at Tycho. “He can be… trying, when he’s tired.”

Tycho nodded, looking to Virgil. There was need in his eyes. Not the kind that had been there earlier, a more earnest, innocent need, to feel strong arms around him, to feel safe.

“Thanks for this, Grandma,” Virgil gave a soft smile. She nodded in return.

“Don’t mention it. And don’t worry about Scott. I’ll have words with him tomorrow.”

She pressed lightly on Tycho’s back, ushering him further into the room and moved to close the door as she left.

“You two take some time. Get some rest,” she advised softly. “Night boys.”

“Night, Grandma,” Virgil called back.

“G’night, Sally,” Tycho said shakily, offering a small smile. “And thank you.”

“Anytime,” she said fondly, closing the door with a soft click.

The short moment they both stood, Tycho with his arms still wrapped around himself, Virgil resting on his crutches, unsure of what to do next seemed to stretch out between them.

Tycho felt a wave of shame rise up over him.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered, eyes cast to the floor as he heard Virgil moving closer to him. “He just, caught me by surprise and I…”

He looked up as Virgil arrived next to him, casting his left crutch aside to free his hand, bringing it up to Tycho’s face, strong fingers stroking across his cheek with a touch too tender to process.

The tears Tycho had been fighting back for the last fifteen minutes suddenly swelled again, spilling over the rims of his eyes and down onto his cheeks.

A choked sob escaped his lips as Virgil wrapped his free arm around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Responding in kind, Tycho’s arms twined around Virgil’s muscular frame, clinging onto him like his life depended on it.

One of Virgil’s hands move up his back, threading through his hair and pulling him close, the secure feeling that washed over him as he was pulled tighter into the embrace one of total relief.

Moving slowly, Virgil pulled back a little, releasing his body from his grip. He ran his hands down quivering arms as he pulled back, watching his face carefully as his hands finally reached Tycho’s, lacing his fingers with his own and moving back, wincing as he put a little too much pressure on his bad knee, pulling the slimmer man towards the bed.

Tycho got the message, following Virgil’s body as he moved to sit on the bed, their hands still linked.

He looked down at Virgil as he sat, their fingers laced together, contemplating where this was going.

If he’d been in a clearer state of mind, he would have leant forward, kissed him and moved to straddle his lap, laying him down and picking up where they had left off. But with his mind swimming, he could only sit, a little dumbly, looking to him with a different, more vulnerable need in his eyes.

Virgil picked up on this, shuffling back on to the bed carefully. Tycho shivered a little at the loss of contact as Virgil freed his hand. It was only momentary, however, as Virgil laid down on top of the covers, reaching out to Tycho once he was far back enough to allow his presence on the soft duvet as well.

He grabbed Tycho’s hand, tugging him down. The slimmer man complied, suddenly very aware as he looked over Virgil’s naked torso and barely covered lower half, how intimate this situation was. He swallowed hard, allowing himself to be pulled down next to him.

He carefully moved onto the bed, laying on his side to face Virgil’s bare, muscular body, his mind swimming a little as he tried to ignore the arousal fighting to cut a clear path through the haze of emotions that was still felt like it was drowning him as Virgil moved carefully onto his side, closer to him.

The larger man reached for his hand where it rested between them, lacing their fingers together once more.

He bought their linked hands up to his mouth, giving Tycho’s a soft squeeze as he turned the hand in his grip to face him, bringing it to his lips where the placed a soft kiss on the quivering skin, eyes locked with Tycho’s the whole time.

Virgil’s gaze was giving him butterflies; worry swirling in the deep, chocolate coloured pools, a dash of lust being forced down as he looked over him, his pupils wider than they ought to be as he watched the play of emotions on his face, a gentle, reassuring smile resting on his lips as he released Tycho’s hand, now instead reaching for his face once more, cupping his cheek, fighting the urge to bring him closer.

Tycho let out a shaky sigh as he shifted himself closer without thinking, pressing their bodies together in a way not driven by desire. Instead, as Tycho leant his head to Virgil’s body, dipping his head to lay it against Virgil’s firm chest and snuggling up into the crook of his neck, he felt nothing but relief in the way Virgil gave a contented sigh, his arms moving to wrap around Tycho’s shivering form, just holding him.

A soft sob, a broken noise Tycho didn’t even realise he’d been holding in escaped from his lips as Virgil’s hands settled, one on his hip, holding him close, the other on his head, fingers threading through his hair again, the thumb stroking gently at the back of his neck sending a ripple of soft pleasure through his body.

The noise caused Virgil to pull him even closer, wrapping him up as securely as he could while trying to allow him the freedom of some movement should be want it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Virgil asked as he pressed his lips against Tycho’s head, planting a gentle kiss. His voice was low, a consideration for calmness Tycho had only previously heard from him when watching back suit cams from rescues, when he’d been talking to people in need.

Right now _he_ was one of those people, he supposed.

He contemplated for a moment; he didn’t want to lie to Virgil, but he also didn’t want to cause any further conflict between him and Scott, or anyone else on the island.

If there was one thing he hated, it was direct conflict. It was part of the reason being so directly targeted by Scott had caused the reaction it had. Well that and…

An uncomfortable shiver ran through him as he thought back, unwanted visions of former mistreatment replaying, unwanted, through his mind.

Virgil gave him to time process, to think, watching his face carefully as it went through a range of emotions.

He was not one to hide what he was thinking, even in expression, and it fascinated Virgil.

The thumb at the base of Tycho’s neck continued stroking the sensitive skin there, adding a little more pressure in what he hoped was a comforting way.

Tycho shivered at the change of pressure, his legs shuffling closer to Virgil’s, wishing he could just wrap himself around him, cling onto him and never let go.

“Scott,” Tycho swallowed hard, casting his eyes down to his chest, taking a deep breath as he made up his mind. “He was… He was worried. He wanted to… to make sure I wouldn’t…”

“That fucker,” Virgil hissed through gritted teeth, forgetting himself for a moment. Tycho’s eyes snapped back up to his, a small measure of fear in his gaze. “Did he threaten you?” Virgil asked, voice soft once more as he addressed Tycho.

The inventor thought for a moment.

“Sort of,” he admitted quietly, closing his eyes with a sigh as he snuggled deeper into Virgil’s chest. The arms around him tightened a little. “It wasn’t that which bothered me,” he gave a weak laugh. “It was… the way he approached me was…” he hesitated. “Not the best. He… caught me by surprise and…” he swallowed hard, thinking back to the panic he had felt at being cornered in the kitchen.

Another flash of anger rose up through Virgil.

Part of him wanted to go, right now and give Scott a piece of his mind. But as Tycho shifted in his hold, as if trying to get even closer than he already was, the feeling faded.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil sighed, the hand on Tycho’s hip giving a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “that you had to _experience_ Scott. He’s… protective,” he explained, for lack of a better word.

“I got that feeling,” Tycho admitted with a soft smile, his eyes darting back up to meet Virgil’s. A moment passed between them where they just lay in each other’s arms, just smiling at one another.

And _fuck_ , Virgil wanted to kiss him again.

He was about to move forward, about to close the gap when Tycho looked down again, cutting the moment short.

“You should know,” he admitted, a tremor in his voice that made Virgil uneasy, “I think he was trying to be helpful but…” he paused again. Virgil should know what he knew… secrets were not the right way to start out anything, let alone something as important as this…

Virgil’s stomach dropped a little.

What was he talking about? God _damn_ Scott and his big mouth. What had he told him? How much had he…

“He told me about the Hood, and what he did to you,” Tycho admitted quietly. Virgil froze, the tiny movements of his hands stopping, his entire body tense.

A stab of fear went through Tycho, like a cold chill up his back.

“And I want you to know,” Tycho continued quickly, noting the spark of fear that Virgil’s gaze now held, “that I… No-one should ever… I would never, ever hurt you,” he managed, raw emotion clawing up his throat as he watched Virgil’s face turn unreadable. “What he did to you was horrific. I can’t… I can’t pretend I understand the deception, but,” he swallowed, thoughts turning dark, “I understand what it is to be used…” a deep breath in… “to be hurt.”

The tears he had begun to successfully fight back were returning as he cast his gaze down once more, avoiding eye contact.

He was scared at what he would see there as he took in another shaky breath.

“I know it’s not the same but…” Tycho swallowed past the lump in his throat, “there was this man, Mischa,” he began, words spilling out almost unbidden. “He was… I thought he was everything I wanted but… he… It turned out he was just a control freak with a spending habit,” he gave a cold laugh. “And when I tried to take both the power and the money away…”

His entire body shivered. Virgil regarded him in shock, unsure how to react to the smaller man pouring his heart out to him.

“I’m sorry,” Tycho whimpered after a moment, still refusing to meet Virgil’s gaze. “I don’t mean to make this about me, I just… I wanted you to know, I would never think of you any differently, I would never judge. I know how much it… it can hurt, when the person you fall for turns out to not be the person you thought they were and I…”

He never got to finish the rambling thought as Virgil shifted back, the hand on the back of Tycho’s head bringing his head up, the angle perfect as their lips made contact once more, an electric feeling passing between them as he kissed him.

Tycho couldn’t fight the moan that escaped his lips as Virgil’s tongue slipped out, flicking against his lips, the hand on his hip gripping the skin there, pulling their bodies together.

He lifted his leg up, wrapping himself over Virgil and using it to drag him closer, wary of his injury as he did so. Virgil’s hips bucked against his as he deepened the kiss, hands roaming over Tycho’s back.

Tycho moved his hand, the one that wasn’t trapped between their bodies, to Virgil’s bare back, shaking as he made contact with the expanse of skin, flat palm pressing firmly into the strong, muscular surface.

Virgil moaned into the kiss, a deep, guttural sound accompanied by his grip on Tycho tightening, pulling him closer.

It had been years since he’d felt this desire, this thrumming _need_ for someone else, to be as close to them as possible, to connect with them on the deepest physical level.

He was mindful of his bad knee as he rolled onto his back, strong arms looping around Tycho, pulling him over as he moved. Tycho reacted accordingly, shifting his body to settle himself onto Virgil’s lap, straddling his hips. His body shivered with need as he remembered their earlier encounter.

They broke the kiss as Tycho sat up, shifting a little on top of Virgil as he looked down on the expanse of skin and muscle that made up his torso; the sun kissed surface beginning to bead with sweat, up his strong neck, past kiss swollen lips, both men heaving for breath as their eyes met, sharing an intense gaze.

Virgil should have felt exposed, naked as he was except for the towel over his crotch while Tycho was still dressed in the same work clothes as earlier, tatty jeans and his grey t-shirt but in that moment, he felt nothing but desire.

Virgil tugged at the hem of the shirt, pulling it up. Tycho blushed as he noted the action, grabbing the other side of the shirt and pulling it swiftly up over his head and off of his arms, exposing his own chest as he threw the material thoughtlessly across the room.

He barely had time to process the chill that ran over his naked chest, peaking his nipples as his body shuddered a little before Virgil’s hands found his taut stomach, moving smoothly from their starting positions, up his chest, across is ribs and around to his back, nails digging in a little as he pulled him down, back into position to kiss him.

“Virgil,” Tycho whispered into the kiss as their lips met again, more tongue and teeth this time, the growing need Virgil felt obvious as Tycho felt the hard pressure of his cock against him.

Virgil responded with a groan, hands moving to Tycho’s jeans, fiddling with the buttons there. Another wave of arousal shot through Tycho’s body at the action; he couldn’t remember the last time someone else had tried to undress him like this.

He shifted his hips up but found the position awkward, hesitating before he broke the kiss, leaning up and batting Virgil’s hands away, working on his own buckle and buttons, loosening them within moments.

He moved himself from Virgil’s lap, laying down on the expanse of cool white duvet next to him and shuffled the jeans off of his hips, kicking them off of the bed along with his underwear as quickly as he could.

With a deep, shuddering breath, he turned back on his side to face Virgil.

The larger man had also shifted onto his side, facing Tycho, the towel previously wrapped around his waist now cast onto the floor behind him, exposing his strong thighs, the dark, curled hair of his groin and the thick length of his erect cock as it rested against his stomach.

He was completely exposed to Tycho’s hungry gaze, and if he was nervous, it didn’t show in that moment as he reached forward to Tycho’s hips, pulling him close once again.

Tycho felt a pang of nerves as Virgil’s cock brushed against his own; he had never been ashamed of his size, (he’d never had any complaints and as far as he was aware, was well into the high average in terms of size), the way his body was built, but next to Virgil’s chiselled form, his _much_ larger than average cock as it rested between them, beads of pre-cum leaking from the slit, almost too perfect looking to be real, he was nervous.

 

Their lips met again, passion blooming as they moaned into each other’s mouths, their hips grinding together. The action went someway to easing his anxiety, as did Virgil’s hands moving in slow circles over his biceps and back, pulling him close but also gently working the muscles, the tension held in them melting away.

“I want you,” Virgil whispered into the kiss, seizing Tycho’s bottom lip between his teeth and tugging gently.

Tycho’s breath hitched as he processed the words, nodding numbly.

“Yes,” he managed through soft moans as Virgil ground his hips up again, the friction between their cocks both amazing and frustrating.

“Do you want me?” Virgil questioned, always one to make sure.

Tycho nodded fervently. As fast as this all way going, the panic, the anxiety, the uncertainty was melting away under Virgil’s touch as his hand moved between them, brushing against his cock, deft fingers finding their way around the shaft and his free hand pushed him onto his back.

A soft whimper left Tycho’s lips, an odd noise, one that must have betrayed the hesitation that lingered in the back of his mind, as the sound had Virgil’s motions stilling.

He broke their kiss and drew back to look at him with a gentle consideration in his eyes.

“Is this okay?” Virgil asked softly, hand still wrapped around the base of Tycho’s cock, not moving but still, a gentle pressure. “If this is moving too fast, we can stop,” he offered.

The words fought to reach Tycho’s brain through the haze of pleasure and _need_ that had consumed him. He took the brief moment to remove his glasses from his face, placing them carefully on the bedside table, trying to ignore how Virgil’s eyes flashed over his face, taking in his features without the distraction of the spectacles.

He stared back into Virgil’s eyes for a brief moment, wishing he could find the words to express how _grateful_ he was for Virgil’s concern, how deep his need for him was, how much he…

Words floated through his mind, ones that were far too much, far too soon and he heaved a breathy sigh.

Virgil waited patiently, fighting the urge to lean in and kiss Tycho again, the ravish him, to jerk him off until he came, moaning his name, his hands beginning to shake with the pressure of fighting against instinct.

“No,” Tycho finally murmured, eyes never leaving Virgil’s as he wrapped his own hand on top of Virgil’s and bid him to move. “I want this,” he half growled, giving into his urges. “I need you,” he breathed, the last word turning to a moan as Virgil complied with his physical request and slid his hand up Tycho’s shaft and back down, the smaller man arching into the touch.

Virgil gave a wicked smile, the control he had over Tycho intoxicating; it really had been too long since he had felt this with another person, the uncontrolled lust, the mutual passion, the feeling of being completely in control of another person’s pleasure…

A shiver ran through his entire body as he shifted a little, eyes fixed on Tycho’s face, contorted with pleasure as his hand continued its assault on his sensitive flesh.

“F-fuck,” Tycho gasped as Virgil thumbed the head of his cock on a down stroke, the inventor’s hands grabbing at the duvet underneath him, body overwhelmed by the sensation. “Fuck, V-Virgil,” he breathed.

A shot of heat pulsed through Virgil’s cock and it physically twitched at the sound of his name falling from Tycho’s lips.

“Fuck,” he bit his lip, wondering how this had all happened so fast but finding himself unable to care as Tycho’s back arched with a particularly rough swipe of his thumb over the sensitive head of the smaller man’s cock. “Say that again,” he commanded.

“Virgil,” Tycho moaned again, eyes shut tight, face screwed up with pleasure.

 _Goddamn this knee_ Virgil thought as he tried to shift more, testing his weight on it, wondering if he could shift himself enough to take Tycho into his mouth. He wanted him, in every way he could. He wanted to taste him, to lick away the beads of pre-cum dribbling from his slit; he wanted to take him in a way he would be dreaming about for weeks.

A particularly sharp pain bit through his knee as he shifted a little too much, the hiss he let out drawing Tycho’s attention away from his pleasure and back into reality.

“A-are you okay?” he breathed, voice raspy from the moans being torn from him by Virgil’s actions.

Virgil stopped his assault on Tycho’s body for a second, trying to process the pain as it shot through him.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, “Just moved a bit fast.” He smiled at the lust addled concern on Tycho’s face. “I want to taste you,” he purred, “but my knee isn’t co-operating.”

Tycho nearly exploded at his words, biting his lip hard and trying his best not to imagine Virgil, the strong, muscular man, capable of pinning just about anyone down and having his way with them, on his knees in front of him, worshipping his cock.

He bit back a loud moan, willing himself to stay in control, to not cum just from the image.

“D-don’t push yourself,” he forced out, hips twitching in protest at the lack of contact as Virgil moved back a little, contemplating his next move. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“We do?” Virgil asked softly, the gravelly tone his voice spurring more desire in Tycho’s groin.

He recognised the loaded question, and answered without hesitation. His mind had been made up the second Virgil’s lips had first touched his own.

“As long as you want to give me.”

Virgil gave a smile far too innocent and docile for the situation they were in, hand finding Tycho’s and giving it a squeeze.

“That’s a long time,” he breathed, the hunger from before sliding back into his eyes.

Tycho drew in a sharp breath as he saw the change come over Virgil, the larger man surging forward, slamming their lips together, all teeth, tongues and raw passion.

A surge of courage came over Tycho, spurred on by the confirmation of their intentions to carry this on.

He placed his hand on Virgil’s bicep, pushing the larger man back onto the soft duvet behind him with little resistance.

Virgil allowed himself to be moved, curious as to Tycho’s motives.

He watched as the slimmer man moved to straddle him, dipping his hips as he did so, deliberately brushing their cocks together, both men reeling from the pleasure, their moans mingling into a single noise of passion in the air. Virgil cast his head back into the soft pillows behind him as he keened at the sensation, exposing his neck.

Exactly what Tycho was hoping for.  
He leant forward, pinning Virgil with his weight as he slid up his body, lips finding the sensitive skin of his neck and littering it with soft, slow kisses, occasional flicks of his tongue against the taut skin.

Virgil let out a long, low moan; his neck was one of the most sensitive parts of his body, contact with the soft skin sending currents of arousal straight to his already hard cock, causing it to twitch against Tycho’s thigh in anticipation.

Tycho grinned to himself through the kisses, dragging his teeth across Virgil’s throat, teeth turning back to lips as he slowly moved down, peppering the skin with more kisses until he reached his collarbone.

Without hesitation, he latched himself onto the skin, sucking hard, teasing with his tongue as he made his mark on Virgil’s body, something to show the world he had been _claimed_.

“F-fuck, Tycho,” Virgil moaned loudly, uncaring of his surroundings. He was too lost to the pleasure, hands roaming up to run down the sides of Tycho’s body, coming to rest on his ass, pulling him back up for a kiss.

Tycho resisted for a moment before acquiescing and letting Virgil pull him back up.

One hand still on Tycho’s backside, his free hand moved back up to his neck, dragging him into a passionate meeting of lips, teeth and tongues.

The hand still on his ass moved to rest on Tycho’s lower back, pulling up, dragging his body closer.

Tycho felt a shiver run through him as he realised Virgil’s aim, the hard, slick flesh of Virgil’s cock brushing against one of his buttocks.

“F-fuck,” he hissed, trying not to grind his ass against Virgil’s cock, fighting the urge to just sink onto him; he was not doing this without prep, no matter how taken by the moment they were.

Virgil seemed to have the same train of thought, even as he bucked his hips up again, his cock sliding in between Tycho’s buttocks, pre-cum easing the way as he simulated thrusting, sliding his cock against sensitive skin, teasing his hole when it caught the puckered flesh slightly as it slid past.

“Virgil, please,” Tycho begged, his control slipping.

Virgil broke their kiss, pulling Tycho down beside him, tongue moving to the shell of his ear.

“Can I fuck you?” he asked breathlessly, fighting with his bodies urges, trying to still his hips.

Tycho let out a deep, guttural moan.

“Fuck, yes, _please_ ,” he responded immediately, completely lost to the moment.

Virgil gave a sly smile, eyes dancing with adoration as he reached across to his bedside table, pulling out a box of lube, _incredibly_ grateful it had arrived earlier today.

Tycho laid flush against him as he watched the action, heart pounding in his chest.

“You want me to get you ready?” Virgil offered as he opened the box and extracted the tube inside, flicking the lid off as he went.

Tycho considered this for a moment before shaking his head.

“I can do it,” he said breathlessly, holding his hand out. Virgil held in a breath as he handed over the tube and Tycho pushed himself up, shifting into a more suitable position at the end of the bed just past where Virgil’s legs lay.

Virgil shifted up a little so he was in a sitting position, watching Tycho as he moved, laying on his back while still leaning up a little and opening his legs. The slimmer man blushed a little.

“What?” he asked, a note of shyness in his voice.

“I want to watch,” Virgil all but growled, gaze intense as he met Tycho’s eyes.

“O-okay,” Tycho stammered, squeezing a generous amount of lube onto his fingers. He should have felt ashamed, he told himself, getting ready to finger himself in front of a man he had only known for a short amount of him, but as he slipped one finger into himself and heard Virgil moan in front of him at the sight, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He threw his head back as he pumped the finger in and out of himself; it had been far too long since he’d done this to himself, and he’d forgotten how pleasant the pressure could be.

Virgil’s hand found its way to his cock as he watched Tycho slip another finger inside himself, soft whimpers falling from his lips as he twisted them around, a soft cry of need as he added a third, stretching himself out gently.

A wave of pleasure crashed over Virgil as he continued to watch, stroking himself in long, languid strokes as he watched Tycho finger himself, dextrous, clever hands bringing himself so much pleasure.

But it wasn’t enough.

Careful of his knee, he shifted forwards, sliding his legs to fit either side of Tycho’s. The movement stopped his actions suddenly, carefully withdrawing his fingers and looking to Virgil with a renewed hunger in his eyes.

Virgil wordlessly held out his hand to Tycho who, after a moment of thought, handed him the tube of lube, biting his lip as Virgil popped the lid back off and squeezed some into his palm.

He popped the lid back on and threw the tube on the floor as he took the lube and began to coat his dick with a generous layer, throwing his head back with a moan at the contact, the exhilaration of what was to come.

Tycho was physically shaking, so taken by adrenaline and desire as he watched Virgil coat his cock, marvelling at his size, his mind filling in sensations of what it might feel like when he was buried inside him.

A sudden realisation hit him as he watched Virgil fist his cock that this, this moment, the one he’d dreamed about, that he’d day dreamed about, was actually happening; he was about to be fucked by Virgil Tracy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! Here we go!
> 
> I am so sorry, but I legitimately cackled when I split this chapter in 2. Sadly it was just getting a bit long. But hey, nothing like a good ol' bit of suspense to get the blood pumping, right? ;)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GRAPHIC depictions of sexual activities and intercourse
> 
> Like, seriously

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't keep y'all waiting for the smut for too long, that's just cruel ;)
> 
> omg I must have re-written parts of this six times trying to get it right.
> 
> Not to mention the amount of times I had to stop mid-through to go and calm myself down.
> 
> Not easy to be objective when these two little hotties are dancing round your head!
> 
> Enjoy, my lovelies! <3

“Come here,” Virgil commanded once he’d finished coating his cock, grabbing onto Tycho’s thighs and pulling him closer to him.

Tycho gasped a little as he allowed Virgil to move him, wondering what he was thinking as they now sat opposite each other, legs spread, panting for breath and both on the verge of losing it.

He had to wonder no longer as Virgil slipped his hands underneath his thighs, drawing him up onto his lap and forced his legs closer together even as Virgil’s dropped open wider, keeping his damaged knee well out of the way.

The position put Virgil’s cock under Tycho’s ass, the muscle throbbing with anticipation as Virgil settled himself, leaning back enough to allow his cock to spring up between them. He pushed it into position carefully, letting Tycho get comfortable before shifting him back just enough to slip it between their bodies.

The head of his cock brushed against Tycho’s puckered hole as he pushed it against him, the sensation torturous.

“Fuu _uuck_ ,” Tycho moaned loudly, hips twitching downwards in an attempt to take Virgil inside him.

_‘Fuck, this is really happening’._

“If you need me to stop, if you want to stop, you tell me,” Virgil panted, every fibre of his being focussed on not just slamming into Tycho right there and then, even as the smaller man squirmed against him, desperate to take him inside.

“Please,” Tycho begged, trying to get more friction. “Virgil, _please, fuck me._ ”

It was all the encouragement he needed.

He hooked his hands under Tycho’s thighs, settling the smaller man’s legs either side of his torso as he pushed slowly against the puckered entrance to Tycho’s body, nerves going haywire from the pressure of it as Tycho keened below him, reeling from the feeling.

 _Fuck,_ it _hurt_ but it was a tolerable pain, one he almost welcomed as Virgil gripped the soft flesh of his thighs where he held them and, gritting his teeth, sank deeper into him, inch by inch, Tycho pushing back against him, easing the process.

They took it slow, the steady push, the constant pressure driving them both insane as Virgil watched his cock sink into Tycho’s body, eyes flickering up to check his face for signs of pain before moving back to watch in awe as his cock was swallowed up by the perfect, velvet like heat.

“Holy fuck,” Virgil whispered as his cock fully sheathed itself inside Tycho, the smaller man whimpering and moaning below him.

The pressure was _incredible_ , muscles flexing and pushing, protesting and _fuck,_ it was _perfect._

Virgil stilled his movements, every part of his mind screaming at him to thoroughly _fuck him_ , to start pounding, to thrust into Tycho until he was screaming his name.   
But he waited, as patiently as he could until Tycho came back to himself, until he regained a little control, eyes hazy with a mix of pain and pleasure as he looked up at him, eyes questioning.

“Do you need me to stop?” Virgil asked softly, trying to keep his voice neutral, the hands holding Tycho’s thighs in place squeezing a gentle reassurance.

Tycho shook his head.

“Never,” he moaned, Virgil’s cock twitching inside him at the pressure. Virgil gritted his teeth.

“I’m going to move,” he told him. “If it gets too much, I can stop.”

“Please,” Tycho whined, hands fisting the bedsheets below him, “please don’t stop.”

Virgil gave a weak smile as he pulled back a little, trying to hold on through the pressure and the sheer tightness of Tycho’s body.

“Try to relax,” Virgil cooed as softly as he could. “I want you to feel good. Just relax.”

Tycho moaned under him, totally lost to the sensation of Virgil’s cock stretching him out, the drag of flesh against flesh as he moved slowly back, pulling out a little before pausing and beginning to slide back in.

“ _Fuck!_ ” Tycho whined lowly, head falling back onto the bed.

“Good?” Virgil asked breathlessly.

“Fuck,” Tycho responded again, leaning back on his arms.

Virgil grinned. Both of their bodies were beginning to adjust to the pressure on both sides, and it was noticeable as the slide in and out of Tycho’s body became easier, smoother, his thrusts longer as he pulled out more and slid back into place.

Picking up his pace a little, Virgil ignored the insistent nagging pain in his knee, shifting his weight enough to take most of the pressure off.

Tycho moaned as the thrusts got faster, shifting his hips up, urging Virgil to go deeper.

It felt _amazing_ , genuinely, to be filled like this, the be utterly taken. He’d had men before but none that had done _this_ to him, filled him this wholly, caused friction like _this_ inside him.

Maybe it was the position, maybe it was the swell of emotions in both of them, but right in that moment, Tycho was sure he was enjoying the best sex of his life.

He shifted a tiny bit more, just as Virgil thrusted, hard and deep into him, losing control for just a second.

The thrust took him deeper into Tycho than anyone had previously been, Tycho seeing white for a moment as Virgil’s cock brushed against something deep inside him, an electric jolt running through every nerve on his body, setting a fire as it went.

“Holy fuck!” Tycho all but screamed. Virgil froze instantly, still as deep as he could go inside him.

“Are you okay?” he gasped, voice full of concern Tycho did not register as the pressure against _that spot_ , the white hot pleasure it caused, continued.

Tycho threw his head back, whimpering as the pleasure continued to course through him, a thrumming feeling overtaking his body.

“ _Virgil, please,”_ he whined, hands scrabbling on the sheets, trying to communicate just how much he needed him to _move_.

“ _Fuck me,_ ” Tycho begged, trying to shift his hips upwards, to get his point across.

The moment the words registered in his already lust addled brain, Virgil lost it.

He reached forward, pushing Tycho’s thighs back up against his own body now as he sat up a little, keeping the pressure on, his hips tilting, giving him a little more access and an even better view of his cock as he pulled almost all the way out, driving back into him with enough force the bed lurched forward with them.

Tycho screamed, a long, loud, low noise which echoed around the room, mixing with the sounds of their grunts of exertion and the slap of skin on skin as Virgil pounded into his body, using his grip on Tycho’s thighs to help pull himself in position as his hips drove his cock in and out, as fast and as deep as he could manage.

A familiar, prickling pleasure crept up Tycho’s body from his feet, rising upwards as he lost himself to the pleasure of Virgil filling him up, pounding into him like his life depended on it, legs held back against his chest by Virgil’s strong hands, feeling the tension, the pressure in his thighs, being fucked better than he ever had in his life. The feeling kept building, a pre-cursor to what was next.

“V-Virgil, gonna, gonna cum,” he breathed, wishing he could kiss him as he looked to Virgil, the concentration on his face, the beads of sweat on his forehead, the fire in his eyes.

“Fuck,” Virgil whispered in return, his thrusts beginning to lose their pace a little. “Cum for me, Tycho.”

Tycho threw his head back and moaned as the heat inside him built up, like an overfilled balloon, stretching, straining, thinning and then finally…

He lifted his hand to his mouth and bit down as he came, muffling the scream that accompanied the spurts of cum that landed on his chest and stomach as his entire body tensed, his legs twitching and stretching up as pleasure shot through every nerve.

Virgil’s cock was squeezed by the action, pleasure shooting through him as Tycho’s velvet grip rhythmically clutched at his twitching flesh, milking an intense orgasm from him. He snapped his hips forward as he came with a cry of Tycho’s name, hard, deep inside him.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, to regain control, cock still twitching as he slowly, as gently as he could, began to pull out, releasing Tycho’s hips and letting his body unfold.

Tycho whimpered at the loss of contact as Virgil shifted up the bed, giving Tycho room to manoeuvre.

“Come here,” Virgil instructed, looking down the bed to where Tycho lay, arms wrapped around himself, shivering.

A cold wash of concern hit him suddenly and the warm, pleasurable thoughts were swept away by fear.

“Tycho, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

Tycho shook his head, blinking a couple of times before responding, swallowing hard.

“No, no, just… bit overwhelmed. Give me a sec.”

A couple of seconds passed as Tycho tested his muscle strength, slowly bringing himself up to move up the bed and lay next to Virgil. He crawled up, collapsing dramatically next to him and snuggling up to his chest.

Virgil gave a fond smile and kissed him on the head, wrapping a strong arm around him to bring him in closer.

He couldn’t explain it, but this just felt _right_. It already felt like they’d been doing this for years, so familiar and confident with each other. It was an odd feeling.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked the slimmer man, noting how he was still shaking.

Tycho shot a fond, exhausted smile up to him before snuggling back into his chest, planting soft kisses where he could,

“I’m fine. Just a bit sore,” he admitted. “And dirty. And I should probably get cleaned up. But that means leaving this bed so…”

Virgil chuckled in response, squeezing Tycho gently.

“What about you?” Tycho asked quickly, looking back up to Virgil. “Are you ok?”

He watched as Virgil gave him a beaming smile that was underlined with exhaustion but still present.

“Better than okay,” he grinned. “That was… it was really good,” he smiled. “For me, I mean, I hope I was for you too. You know, good?”

Virgil blushed, suddenly embarrassed as it he hadn’t had his cock deeper in Tycho than anyone else ever had less than five minutes ago.

Tycho smiled fondly at him, a rush of warm affection swelling inside him.

“Better than okay,” he admitted, grinning tiredly. “That was… I’ve never felt anything like it. You’re… I’ve never…” Tycho hesitated, embarrassment settling over him for a moment. “Don’t judge me, but I’ve never been able to… cum, before, from being… you know…” he hid his face, feeling a little ashamed.

“Really?” Virgil asked, a little surprised. “Never?”

“Not _never_ never,” Tycho protested. “I can from, you know, myself and from…” he blushed furiously, “toys,” he said in a hushed tone, “but never another… never someone else.”

Virgil beamed and Tycho immediately realised he’d made a mistake.

“I am just _that_ awesome,” Virgil laughed. “Virgil Tracy, _sex god_ ,” he snickered at himself.

Tycho rolled his eyes.

“Oh no,” he cried faux dramatically, “I’ve inflated your ego, what have I done?” he asked himself, shifting his body in preparation to move, to go get a shower, to get cleaned up.

He felt like a mess, not only was his hair out of control, but he could feel the seeping wetness which inevitably came after intimate encounters.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” Virgil asked in a playful tone, sensing his movements and pulling him back to his body.

“I need to get cleaned up,” Tycho protested. “I’m filthy.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down.

“Not yet, you’re not,” he purred, pulling him back down for a kiss, tongue flicking out against Tycho’s lips. “But I can get you nice and filthy if you want? Give you a _real_ excuse to have a shower.”

Tycho blushed furiously, heat rising in him once more. Pain in his backside as he shifted made him wince a little; he didn’t know if he could physically take any more.

“Virgil, I…” he began, but Virgil had already picked up on the change.

“Hey,” he cooed, “It’s okay. I can be a little… insatiable… I’m sorry.” He offered a weak grin. “You know I’d never ask you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, right? Because I wouldn’t.”

He sat up properly, wincing as he bent his knee a little too much and beckoning Tycho to him. The smaller man complied, pressing himself against the wall of solid muscle that was Virgil, snuggling into him as best as he could. Strong arms wound their way around him, holding him close.

“If you want to go get washed up, you do it, I will never stop you,” he murmured into Tycho’s hair. “I just… I’ve been thinking about this a lot and…” Tycho looked up at him, watching the play of emotions over his face as he spoke. “I’m so scared I’m going to wake up in a second and this all would have been another dream,” he admitted, tone bitter. “I…” he gave Tycho an unreadable look. “I don’t think I could cope with not having you if it was. Not after this.”

Tycho felt adoration bloom in his chest as he lifted his body, moving to straddle Virgil’s lap once more, their bare chests pressing together as he moved to kiss him, passionate and slow, tongues dancing together as they did so, just enjoying the taste of each other.

When they finally broke apart, both pulling deep breaths into their lungs, Tycho move to place a kiss on Virgil’s chest, over his heart.

Virgil watched the action curiously.

“This isn’t a dream,” Tycho murmured against the skin. “This really happened. And I’d like for it to happen again.”

It took all of Virgil’s self-control not to grab him where he sat on his lap, all demure and innocent and so _utterly, thoroughly fucked_ looking it was _indecent_ , to not grab him and take him again, right there and then.

As he fought off the urges in his mind, his body registered a cold, wet sensation on his stomach and he looked down, finding smears of cum. Looking to Tycho’s stomach opposite, he realised it must have transferred while they were kissing moments ago.

Tycho let out a giggle as he watched the realisation dawn on Virgil’s face.

“Told you I needed to get cleaned up,” he said in a sing-song voice, moving to get out of bed. Virgil gave a wicked smile, evil thoughts dancing in his head as he reached down to his own stomach where the cum had transferred, scooping some up onto his finger and popping it into his mouth.

Tycho’s mouth dropped open and a flush rose to his face as Virgil made a delighted noise and swallowed dramatically.

“Nice,” he smirked. “Got any more?”

Tycho’s mouth snapped shut and he headed towards the en-suite, cock already rising to attention again.

“You evil fucker,” he hissed as he walked past a very amused Virgil.

“You’d better not jerk off in the shower without me,” Virgil warned, “Or I’ll fuck you into the wall.”

Tycho moaned through the open door.

“You’d better come stop me then,” he called in a strained voice as his hand went to his dick, images of Virgil licking his cum off of his finger rushing through his head as he heard the tell-tale sounds of crutches being moved.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after... 
> 
> Some adult content, as you might expect!

It had been a long time since Virgil had slept for more than 5 hours in a row, not counting his episode of unconsciousness.

Such was life on the island, the nature of their organisation, that they were on all 24/7, 365 days a year and more often than not, they would spend _days_ at a time away from home.

He stared at the clock across from his bed, blinking. 13:10… ten past one… in the afternoon? The beams of light spilling across the floor of his room, illuminating the artificial darkness and highlighting the mess of clothes on the floor seemed to agree.

He went to sit up, to process this information when a weight on his right side stopped him in his tracks.

Looking down, he found a mop of tousled brown hair tucked under his neck, tickling the sensitive skin, a pale torso pressed against him, a strong arm draped over his stomach.

Memories of last night came flooding back to him; he had fucked Tycho.

Oh god, he’d actually fucked Tycho. He’d actually done it. He’d _fucked him_. And it had been _amazing_.

He drew a shuddering breath, his body taking a renewed interest in the man next to him once more, blood rushing to his groin as he let out a contented sigh.

Beside him, Tycho began to stir softly, disturbed by Virgil’s movements next to him.

“Ugh, turn the light off,” he mumbled, snuggling onto Virgil’s chest as he did, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin.

“I could, but it might mean the end of life as we know it,” Virgil chuckled softly, running one of his hands through Tycho’s already mussed hair.

“Or you could just close the bloody blind,” Tycho responded sleepily, moving to stretch across the expanse of bed behind him.

“Eh, good point,” Virgil smiled fondly, watching the covers slip down, exposing Tycho’s taut stomach without an ounce of shame. “Close blinds,” he instructed to the environment control in the corner of the room.

Almost instantly, they were plunged into relative darkness, still just enough light spilling into the room from the emergency lighting above for them to make out each other’s forms in the darkness as Tycho rolled back from his stretch, arm going back over Virgil’s chest and pulling him close.

“Good morning, by the way,” Tycho chirped sleepily as he snuggled back up to the larger man.

“Good afternoon,” Virgil corrected him as he dropped a kiss on his head.

“What?” Tycho questioned, unbelieving.

“It’s just past 1,” Virgil smiled easily as Tycho shifted to sit up. Virgil folded his arms behind his head, watching the movement of his muscles under taut skin, eyes falling to the scratch marks left behind from last night and fighting back a groan.

“What? We’ve been asleep all day?” Tycho went to get out of bed but was stopped by Virgil’s hand on his wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Tycho visibly shuddered as memories of last night and of those words mere minutes before they’d shared a shower together and… well, the love bites now littering his neck were further evidence of the time spent there.

“We should get up; the others will be wondering…”

“Let them wonder,” Virgil purred, tugging Tycho back into bed.

The smaller man complied, heart rate quickening.

“You don’t care that they’ll talk?” he asked, a little incredulous.

Virgil shook his head, the hand on Tycho’s wrist moving to his hand as the smaller man moved to snuggle next to him again. As he laced their fingers together, he gave Tycho an odd look, as if he was concerned.

“Why should I? It’s my life. My happiness. You make me happy. They can get over it,” he said sternly. His face softened suddenly. “Why, do you care?” There was a note of hurt in the words that Tycho did not like. “Do you not want them do know?” A lump began to form in Virgil’s throat, his brain not quite up to full processing power yet and words from his past swirled around his head, muddling the present. “Am I a dirty little secret?”

“No!” Tycho almost yelled, surprising himself at the volume of his voice. Virgil exhaled loudly, suddenly embarrassed at his minor outburst. “Never,” Tycho continued, moving to lean over Virgil, the hand that wasn’t bracing himself moving to cup his face, stroking his cheek and tilting his chin up as he moved in to kiss him.

Virgil groaned as their lips met, his passion from last night still not spent.

Even after Tycho had given him the best blowjob he’d ever had in the shower, Virgil coming hard down his throat then drawing him back up, kissing him fiercely, nearly losing it at the taste of himself on Tycho’s tongue, and after he’d come again just from hearing Tycho moan as he’d pressed their bodies together in the shower, dry humping him while he’d carefully fingered him, teasing his prostate until he’d cum, screaming Virgil’s name, his body so overwhelmed he’d had to be helped back to bed by a man on crutches, Virgil still not had his fill.

He could feel the blood rushing to his cock again, eager to keep Tycho here; to pin him down to the bed and fuck him until he thought of nothing but Virgil. If only his _damn knee_ would allow it.

“I just… I don’t want…” Tycho began, distracting Virgil from his more primal needs for a moment as his higher brain functions returned.

He reached for Tycho’s hand again, giving it a squeeze.

“You can tell me anything. Whatever’s bothering you… I want to help,” he offered softly.

Tycho sighed, unsure of how to best phrase it.

“I… I don’t want to… annoy Scott, I guess,” he admitted softly. “After last night, I…” The cold terror he’d felt being pinned into the corner came back for a moment, quelled by the soft run of Virgil’s thumb across his knuckles, grounding him in reality.

“He scared you?” Virgil asked, tone terse. Tycho gave a small nod in response.

“A little. He was so… it was like…” Tycho’s free hand suddenly gripped the bedsheets next to him tightly while memories of darker times flooded his mind. “He cornered me,” he finally managed. “I don’t react well to being cornered.”

“He shouldn’t have fucking touched you,” Virgil growled, anger towards Scott that he’d felt flaring again in his chest.

He thought back over the state Tycho had been in when Sally had bought him up, what he’d told him about his past… It made him want to confront Scott, right there and then.

Tycho sensed the change and moved to nuzzle Virgil’s neck, wrapping arms back around his muscular frame.

“He was scared,” he reasoned. “And he had reasons to be. It wasn’t the best way he could have handled it, true but…”

Virgil shook his head, pulling Tycho into him, planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

“It doesn’t make it right,” he murmured against the soft skin. Tycho shuddered at the warmth his breath created. “No-one has the right to make you feel like that. He shouldn’t have. And he…”

There was a sense of vulnerability in his words as he spoke slowly, one hand travelling to Tycho’s ribs where is ran up and length of his body, holding him close.

“I know that is doesn’t change anything, but he… he shouldn’t have told you. About…” he paused, biting his lip, unsure if he should continue.

Tycho leaned up to capture his lips in a kiss again.

“I’d sort of figured out that something had happened,” he admitted. “Everyone cares about you, a lot. They’re… they’re all worried. And I understand but…” he drew back a little, turning himself to look directly at Virgil, eyes open, honest. “I would… If anyone ever tries to hurt you again,” his tone grew a little darker, “they wouldn’t… I’m never going to let that happen,” he finished firmly.

Virgil felt a rush of affection towards him, drawing him in for a slow, languid kiss, all soft lips brushing again soft lips, a hint of tongue, soft whimpers into each other’s mouths, pure affection.

He didn’t know or care how long they laid like that, Tycho leaning on top of him, their lips locked, arms wrapping each other in a tight embrace.

When they finally broke apart, there was a renewed fire in Tycho’s eyes, a desire he recognised from last night.

“I…” Tycho hesitated, biting his lip. “I want you,” he finally breathed. “All the time. Last night was… wow,” he all but whispered the last word, his eyes growing hazy as memories of their activities replayed in his mind. “And I… I want to…”

“I know,” Virgil chuckled, “and trust me, I feel the same.”

Tycho gave him a grateful smile.

“It really was amazing,” he murmured shyly, dipping his head a little. “It… was like nothing I’ve ever felt before… you’re incredible,” he cooed, his hand finding Virgil’s stomach, drawing soft circles on the defined muscle there. “No-one has ever fucked me like that,” he admitted, face still burning. “The way you held me, the way you opened me up, just… wow…”

Virgil blushed, a sense of pride blooming in his stomach along with the return of the thrumming rhythm of the primal _need_ to consume Tycho _completely and utterly_.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Virgil said with only a hint of a smirk. “I just want you to feel good.”

“It was better than good,” Tycho murmured against his chest as he laid soft kisses on the taut skin, his eyes dreamy and unfocused as he thought back to the night before. “It was…” he turned up to face Virgil, eyes refocusing as he met his gaze. “I felt safe,” he admitted. “And wanted. And… it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that.” He hesitated for a moment, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth and worrying it. “Thank you,” he all but whispered.

Virgil smiled down at him, his heart constricting a little at his words, the hurt in them, the pain from his past brought to the surface. He wanted to do nothing but kiss him until every bad memory he had was washed away.

“You don’t have to thank me,” he chuckled softly, pulling Tycho up for another kiss, soft and demure as Virgil’s hands began to wander a little over his back, scratching little lines into his lower back experimentally. Tycho arched into the sensation, gasping into the kiss, Virgil taking the opportunity to slip his tongue into his mouth, both men feeling heat pooling in them.

“F-fuck,” Tycho gasped, throwing his head back as Virgil’s nails raked over a particularly sensitive spot on his lower back. “Can we just stay in bed all day?”

Virgil let out a low chuckle.

“I’m sure someone will bring us food if we ask nicely enough.”

He was about to pull him up, to ravish his mouth with kisses until he begged to be fucked, to run his hands over his taut body when the comm in the corner of his room began flashing insistently, the irritating beep drawing them both out of their moment.

“For fucks sake,” Virgil whispered against Tycho’s lips as the inventor looked up at him with a sad smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Tycho reassured him, pressing one last kiss to his chest before shifting so Virgil could sit up. “I’ll go get cleaned up,” he smiled, heading to the bathroom.

As the door clicked shut, Virgil looked to the comm with a sigh.

“Comms on,” he said in a bored tone. The holographic comm flickered on, revealing Gordon, fiddling with something.

“Morning sleepy head!” he greeted in his usual, cheery tone. But there was something off about his voice.

“Afternoon,” Virgil corrected, a little tersely. Gordon visibly flinched at the tone of Virgil’s voice.

“Ah, well, yeah,” Gordon rubbed his hand through the hair on the back of his head, a little awkward as he put down whatever it was he had been fiddling with; the comm wasn’t always great at object recognition. “We all figured you could use some rest, we didn’t want to disturb you,” he explained, turning his full attention to Virgil.

“That so?” the older man responded, folding his arms across his chest.

Gordon heaved a sigh.

“Look, Virg, I’m sorry about yesterday. I really am. I shouldn’t have…” he paused for a moment, thinking carefully about his words. “I was a dick,” he admitted with a sigh. “I don’t think of you, or what happened like that at all. I was a total asshole.”

“Yeah, you were,” Virgil agreed, sighing a little as Gordon’s face fell a little. He loved Gordon, he really did. He was boisterous, impulsive, loud and obnoxious at times, but he was also caring, sweet, ridiculously intelligent, funny and so defensive of his family it was terrifying.

When he’d found out about Jason and the whole situation, he had come to find Virgil and just sat, listening to him as he talked things through, and when he was done, he’d just held him, telling him everything was going to be ok.  
It wasn’t until months later that he heard from Scott how Gordon had left him that night and gone to try and steal a ship, their dad’s old antique gun loaded in his jacket pocket.

Thank every deity there was that Scott had been doing maintenance checks and managed to talk him down.

Bought back to the present by the sound of water running in the bathroom behind him, Virgil heaved a sigh.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did either,” he admitted. “That was a dick move on my part.”

Gordon smiled a little.

“Yeah, but it’s true,” he said sadly, sighing a little. “And…” he hesitated.

Virgil recognised that hesitation.

“Gordon,” he asked with a stern tone, sounding far too much like their father for his own liking. “What have you done?”

Even through the comm, Virgil could see the blush that spread across his face.

“I… uh… I may have…kind of… asked Penny out, after you said that,” he admitted sheepishly. “And… she may have… uh, said… yes?”

Virgil was shocked, in a good way, but still shocked.

“She actually said yes? To like, a proper date?”

“Yep, just me and her, in like two weeks,” Gordon grinned. “I was surprised as you are!”

“Wow,” Virgil held in a laugh. “I never thought I’d see the day. Good on you, Gordo.”

Gordon chuckled, an infectious sound which had Virgil smiling softly.

“Thanks, bro,” he smiled in return. “So…” a moment hung between them as they just looked at the comm units. “Are we… you know… good?”

Virgil sighed a little.

Even if he hadn’t apologised, he couldn’t stay angry at Gordon. He was his second in command, his biggest fan, his biggest support. He loved him and understood him in a way no-one else in the family seemed to be able to.

“Of course, Gordon. Like you even have to ask.”

Gordon visibly relaxed on the comm, exhaling loudly.

“Thank you, Virg,” he smiled. Gordon tilted his head a little as the shower in Virgil’s en-suite started up. “Uh, Virg?” he questioned, a little concerned. “Have you left your shower on again? I can hear it.”

Virgil went a little red.

“No, I mean, yeah, probably. I’ll go check it out,” he caught himself quickly, hoping Gordon didn’t notice. 

His brother eyed him warily through the comm.

“Okay,” he smiled awkwardly. “Well, I’m only downstairs, I can pop up and take a look if you need me to? Mine’s always doing that and…”

“No!” Virgil half shouted, realising his mistake as the noise of the shower got louder, Tycho opening the door a little to poke his head out.

“Everything okay, Virgil?” he asked sweetly, noting the blush on his face, the active comm in the corner where the holographic image of Gordon sat, looking expectantly at him.

“Ugh, yeah, Tycho. Everything’s fine,” he smiled back.

“Oh, just because I heard you shout. Oh, morning, Gordon!” he chirped to the comm.

“Uh, morning?” Gordon replied, the shock in his voice apparent.

“Right, I’ll jump back in, catch you in a minute,” he winked at Virgil, closing the door with a soft click.

Dread filled Virgil’s stomach as he turned back to the comm, finding Gordon staring at him, open mouthed.

“It’s…” Virgil began to try to explain, but Gordon cut him off.

“Virgil Grissom Tracy,” he half whispered. “Did you actually _hit that_?” he asked with a laugh.

“Shut up, Gordon,” he replied, trying to ignore the warm feeling that spread through him as Gordon smiled widely.

“Oh, my god,” Gordon giggled, trying to be quiet. “I want details. Who did who, what was it like, etcetera. I want _everything_. Oh my god, I can’t believe you banged _Tycho!_ ”

“Gordon, shut up!” Virgil hissed through gritted teeth.

“Oh man, I’m so happy for you, but _damn_ , that’s… wow,” he chuckled.

“I hate you,” Virgil replied flatly.

“You _love_ me,” Gordon responded with a knowing smirk.

“Sometimes,” Virgil replied, frowning a little, glad they were back to their usual jibing. “And you’re not getting details. And don’t tell anyone. Comms off,” he said sternly, switching off the call before Gordon could reply.

Well _fuck_ , he thought, laying back on the bed.

Gordon knew. Which meant Alan was going to know in the next thirty seconds. Which meant John was going to know within the hour. Which meant Scott was going to know within the next two.

_Shit._

His concerned thoughts were cut short by the sound of the shower stopping and Tycho emerging from the en-suite, hair wet and falling at odd angles over his eyes, beads of water still running down his body down to where he had one of the large bath towels tied loosely around his waist.

The automatic lights flickered on in the room, casting a low light over them both.

“Everything okay?” he asked softly, coming to sit on the bed next to Virgil, using a smaller towel he eld in his hands to dry his hair a little.

Concern was replaced by desire as he watch the droplets of water run down Tycho’s chest, his cock twitching as blood rushed to it.

 _Fuck, he was hot_.

More memories of last night came rushing back as he looked over his neck and shoulders, now littered with love bites, the scratches on his back still red and prominent.

Tycho noticed him staring and blushed under the scrutiny as the placed the smaller towel on the floor next to the bed.

“Uh, yeah, I noticed these,” he gestured to his neck with a blush. “Guess that’s no swimming for me,” he chuckled.

Virgil blushed bright red.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, lacing his fingers together.

“Oh, don’t be,” Tycho smiled, shifting up closer to Virgil. “Besides,” his voice dropped a little as he eyes Virgil’s chest and neck, taking in the litany of love bites and teeth marks that littered his skin. “I gave as good as I got.”

A moment passed between them, tender and emotive as their eyes met, the electricity of the night before still crackling in the air as they both contemplated completely ignoring the world outside of Virgil’s bedroom door and ravishing each other once more.

Tycho’s tongue darted out to lick his lips, every movement he made sending a pleasant ache through his body where last night had stretched him out. A shudder ran through his body as he replayed the moment Virgil had slipped inside him over and over and over again, blood rushing south.

“Can we just stay here?” he whimpered, drawing closer and closer to Virgil with every second, eyes clouded with lust. Virgil learnt forward, throwing the covers to one side and pulling Tycho onto the bed with him, an action the slimmer man happily complied with as their lips met, a soft kiss which attempted to convey all of the emotions they’d had building.

A nagging thought distracted Virgil’s attention, though, and it showed.

Tycho pulled back, a wary look in his eyes.

“Are you okay? You seem… distracted.”

Virgil sighed, running one hand down Tycho’s still wet arm as he did so.

“Yeah,” he gave a sour laugh. “It’s… Gordon knows. About us.”

“Oh,” Tycho responding after a moment. “Oh,” he repeated, a little louder and it dawned on him he’d figured it out from Tycho’s appearance on the comm. “Is that…” he hesitated for a moment. “Is that a bad thing?”

Virgil sighed again, looking to Tycho with genuine sincerity in his eyes.

“Not at all,” he smiled reassuringly, one of his hands reaching up to cup Tycho’s face. He smaller man leant into the touch, closing his eyes in pleasure at the feeling. “I just… wanted to tell them on my terms. That’s all.”

“Understandable,” Tycho smiled. “Whatever you want to do, I’m behind you,” he reached for Virgil’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

“Really hoped you’d be in front of me again, actually,” Virgil snickered with a wicked grin.

Tycho looked at him, scandalized.

“Virgil Tracy!” he chastised him, bringing one hand up to his chest in mock disgust.

“Oh, what, so we’re acting like less than 8 hours ago I wasn’t balls deep inside you?” Virgil smirked.

Tycho flushed bright red, picking up a random piece of clothing from the floor and throwing it at Virgil’s head.

“Shut up,” he retorted.

“Make me,” Virgil snapped back, stomach fluttering as Tycho turned to him with a raised eyebrow, seriously contemplating it.

“You need to make a decision, right now,” Tycho half growled, his voice dropping half an octave as he began to crawl slowly towards Virgil, “as to whether or not you want to stay in bed with me, all day,” he licked his lips, “because I need to know, right now, if it’s worth me hunting through your damned clothes to see if there’s anything in there that will fit me.”

Virgil let out a bark of laughter.

“You don’t have your own clothes?” he asked, perplexed.

“Well, yes, obviously,” Tycho rolled his eyes. “They are, however, over in _my_ room, which is the other end of the hallway. And seeing how all of my clothes from yesterday are filthy, which, I might add, is mostly _your_ fault, and how I am not willing to walk through the halls of this house naked just yet, I think it’s only proper that you lend me some of yours.”

“How is it _my_ fault that _your_ clothes are dirty?” Virgil asked with a smile, enjoying the banter back and forth. This was new, but it wasn’t unpleasant, far from it.

Tycho shot him a wicked smile back.

“I’m sorry, _who_ decided to grab the nearest thing on the floor to wipes they hands on after they’d finished spilling lube all over the table?” he asked in a faux annoyed tone. “And who just happened to exclusively choose _my_ clothes to do so with?”

Virgil blushed; he’d managed to spill a little bit of the lube while trying to put it away last night. In his defence, he really hadn’t been thinking straight.

“I think it’s just an excuse to wear my clothes,” he retorted with a shrug.

“And so what if it is?” Tycho shot back. “So what if I want to wander around the house in your clothes, smelling like you and with a permanent erection while I think of you all day?”

Virgil nearly fell over laughing, the action causing Tycho to dissolve into fits of laughter as well.

“Oh my god, too much,” Virgil choked out through the bouts of laughter which assaulted them both. “Fine, fine, you can have some of my clothes,” he finally replied once the laughter had subsided. “Can’t have you walking around the house boner-less all day.”

Tycho giggled at him as he reluctantly climbed from the bed and moved to the table, looking for something suitable.

“The clothes in the wardrobe are a bit smaller, I needed to have a sort out anyway,” Virgil admitted. “They’ll probably fit you better.”

“Thanks,” Tycho smiled, moving to open the wardrobe, eyeing Virgil with a sly expression before he loosened the towel around his waist, dropping it to the ground carelessly, exposing his naked backside and going to work searching through the clothes hanging within.

Virgil bit his lip, desire waking in him again as he watched Tycho searching through his clothes.

He spent a few minutes searching through the wardrobe, finally selecting a pair of black jeans, ones that Virgil had always found a bit too tight on him, (he had ‘monster thighs’, as Gordon liked to say), and a navy blue shirt with ‘Denver Technology College’ in faded yellow print across the chest.

Laying them out on the bed, Tycho began to pull the jeans on, unthinking. Virgil watched, a little perplexed.

“You can borrow some underwear as well, you know,” he offered with a smile.

Tycho looked up at him, the wicked grin that split his face sending ripples of arousal through Virgil’s system.

“Yes, but I’m scheduled to be re-doing all the new componentry systems in Thunderbird 2 today,” Tycho purred, “and if you’ll be so kind as to offer your help, you’ll be in there with me,” he continued as he pulled the jeans up over his half hard cock, carefully zipping them up; they fit perfectly.

Virgil swallowed hard.

“So, if you were, to say, want to take me against the control console, or,” Tycho advanced on him where he now sat on the edge of the bed, running his hand over Virgil’s strong shoulders as he bent down next to his ear, “have me ride you while you’re sat in the pilot’s chair,” his tongue flicked out against the shell of Virgil’s ear, sending a shudder through his body, “it’ll make things a damn sight easier.”

Virgil sat in shock, processing the words as Tycho moved back to the end of the bed, pulling on the shirt he’d chosen. It was a little big, but it fit fine where he needed it to.

“You… you fuck,” Virgil swallowed, his cock harder than he could ever remember it being as the words Tycho had whispered in his ear because visualised in his head. “You’re the worst.”

Tycho shot him a sensual smile as he grabbed his dirty clothes from the floor, moving back towards Virgil with a predatory look in his eyes.

“You said, last night, how insatiable you can be?” he recalled. Virgil gave a short nod, eyes almost black with lust as he watched Tycho saunter over to him. “You’re not the only one,” he informed him, leaning down to brush his lips across Virgil’s, a tease, jolting out of reach as soon as Virgil went to bring his hands up to seize hold of him.

“I take it I’ll see you later?” Tycho winked as he moved to the door of the room, hesitating before heading out, closing it a little harder than he’d meant to.

Virgil sat for a moment more, his dick hard as a rock between his legs, heart pounding as he went over Tycho’s words again and again in his head.

 _‘Fuck’_ , he thought, exhilarated at the possibility that he had finally met his match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooosh I am still running full speed with this, but just to give you all a heads up, there might not be an update tomorrow just while I get ahead again.
> 
> Got some long, looong, heavy chapters coming up!


	15. Chapter 15

“So, found where your ‘man of mystery’ got off to. _Literally_ got off to,” Gordon laughed maniacally as he bounded through Brain’s lab, sporting a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt, the one that always gave Brains a headache if he looked at it for too long and his favourite khaki cargo shorts.

The delicate instruments, tiny scanners and calibrators on the table Brains was perched at, all currently aimed at Mini-MAX where he sat, chirping under the attention rattled as the excited man ran past, throwing himself into one of the chairs which spun wildly across the room with him in it.

Brains rolled his eyes as he watched the display, shaking his head as Gordon wheeled the chair over to him.

“Y-you found Tycho?” he confirmed, adjusting one of the arms of the calibrators with expert precision.

“Ya could say that,” Gordon grinned wickedly, pretending to examine his nails, eyes flicking up to check if Brains was paying attention.

There was a mischief in his eyes that put Brains on edge. When Gordon was up to something, you wanted to be one of two places; next to him and involved in the scheme or off island somewhere far, far, _far_ away.

“So w-where was he?” Brains questioned, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Oooh you will not _believe_ it,” Gordon squealed, spinning in his chair again. “This is huge, like, _really_ huge!”

“Oh, so he was with Virgil then?” Brains asked casually, trying to supress the smirk that crept across his face as Gordon’s mouth fell agape.

“You _knew_?” he asked, astounded.

Brains gave a soft chuckle.

“They were being all l-lovey dovey yesterday in the lounge,” he explained, not taking his eyes from Mini-MAX as the calibrators latched onto one of his misaligned flight stabilizers.

“Lovey dov… What the hell!” Gordon gave an exasperated cry. “Who else knows then? Am I the only one who doesn’t?”

“D-don’t ask me,” Brains shrugged. “I j-just happened to see. M-maybe they’ve been a b-bit more discreet since then.”

Gordon gasped dramatically.

“So you’re saying there’s a chance not everyone might know?”

“Y-yes, w-whatever,” Brains responded, trying to focus.

“Ugh,” Gordon complained, standing up fast enough for the chair he had been sat on to fly back across the room. “This _sucks_. I get the one juicy bit of gossip on the island and I don’t even know how knows!”

“Why don’t you go and find out?” Brains suggested, tone terse as he tried to concentrate.

“Alright, alright,” Gordon relented, moving to leave the room and pausing as he reached the door, bracing himself with his arms on the frame as he looked back to where the engineer was still hunched over the desk, Mini-MAX demonstrating his new stabilised flight by zooming in figure 8’s in front of him.

“Hey, Brains,” he called back.

“What?” Brains asked, monotone as he adjusted the calibration arm by another 2mm.

Gordon hesitated for a moment.

“Tycho… he’s a good guy, right?”

Brains recognised that tone. Sighing, he turned to face Gordon, forcing a soft smile to his face through the frustration of being interrupted.

“He won’t hurt him, if t-that’s what you’re asking,” he responded with a soft sigh. “If… W-when you see them t-together, you’ll understand. I t-think they’re going to b-be fine.”

Gordon had an odd look on his face as he turned with a nod, heading out of the build room and up the stairs to the lounge.

Bounding up the steps two at a time, intent on going to Alan’s room to tell him his exciting news, Gordon was distracted by a set of heavy footsteps above him, descending the stairs.

Looking up, he caught sight of Scott as he trudged down, dressed in loose jogging bottoms and a baggy sleep shirt, eyes ringed with dark circles. He looked utterly exhausted, face tight, forcing a neutral expression as he looked down to Gordon, giving a short nod.

Gordon nodded back, hesitating for moment; Scott had been in a bad way when they’d all arrived back at the island, sending them all to bed immediately. The rescue had been rough, some _really_ close calls, and they were still left reeling from a malfunction in Thunderbird 1’s sensors which had missed a family with four children stuck on a roof that Alan only spotted by eye while doing a flyover. They had pulled the father of the family from the roof just as the entire house had started to be washed away.

It had been the closest call any of them had had in a _long_ time, and it had rattled them, especially without Virgil there to reassure them all in the way only he could.

Even though Scott was officially in charge, there were so, _so_ many times that even he would turn to his closest brother for guidance, for help and advice.

Operating for the first time in years without him there, without him contactable, it had been hard. And they’d all felt it.

“Hey, Gordo,” Scott offered a weak smile as he approached him from the stairs above, breaking Gordon’s chain of thought.

“Hey Scott,” he chimed back, feeling a stab of concern for his eldest brother. “How you feeling?”

“Honestly?” Scott yawned, stretching his arms above his head. “Like crap. Haven’t slept. Too much…” he gestured to his head, waving his hands around to try and get his point across.

“Worrying about stuff you can’t control?” Gordon asked with a grin.

Scott sighed with a soft smile, placing a hand on Gordon’s shoulder briefly as he did.

“Something like that,” he confirmed. “So what are you up to down here? You usually don’t go near the hangar unless Brains needs you to… wait… you didn’t do anything to Thunderbird 4 again, did you?”

Gordon scoffed.

“No!” he protested loudly. “Not this time. Not since the bumper sticker incident,” he said a little sheepishly. Maybe covering Thunderbird 4 in novelty branded stickers while he and Alan had been tipsy one night hadn’t been the best idea… Brains had been livid, the next morning making him peel them off one at a time until the hull was free of soda brand and skull stickers.

“Ok… so what were you doing?”

“Gossiping,” Gordon shrugged, a wide smile sliding onto his face. Scott raised an eyebrow.

“About what?” he queried, a knot of concern building in his stomach.

Gordon’s eyes widened a little, his grin turning toothy.

“So you haven’t heard?” he chirped brightly, mischief dancing in his eyes.

“Well I won’t know unless you tell me, will I?” he pointed out, resting his weight against the handrail of the stairs as he leant back, folding his arms across his chest with an expectant look.

“Ooooh, boy,” Gordon all but whooped, giddy with excitement. “Brace yourself, because, _seriously_ ”, Gordon squeaked with his usual dramatic flair. “So, I called up to Virgil to… well we had a disagreement yesterday so I was making sure he was okay and everything, right? So I call him and I can hear his shower running and I offer to fix it and…”

“Is this going somewhere? Only I’ve got things to do,” Scott cut off impatiently. Gordon frowned at him.

“Duh, I was just getting to the best part!” he explained, practically bouncing up and down. “So he shouts at me, saying ‘no, I don’t need you to fix my stuff, Gordon, I’m a big, strong boy, I can do it myself’,” Gordon huffed himself up, doing his best Virgil impression (which wasn’t very accurate), “and then _who_ should pop his head out of the shower door but…” He paused for dramatic effect, “ _Tycho fucking Reeves!”_ he practically squealed.

Scott’s stomach dropped, his blood running cold.

“I mean; can you believe it?” Gordon quizzed excitedly. “Not only is Virgil _finally_ getting his rocks off again, but with _Tycho fucking Reeves!_ ”

Scott shot him a frown.

“Stop calling him that,” he snapped, wiping the smile from Gordon’s face. “Are you sure? He wasn’t just there by chance? Was it…” he swallowed hard.

Gordon shook his head, enthusiasm gone.

“Well Virgil was still in bed, and he’d not been answering his comm until just past 1. It just rang until then. And Tycho wasn’t in his room when Brains went looking for him earlier,” he eyed Scott as he spoke, noticing the hard expression on his face, regret at spilling all of this to him creeping up from his gut. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?” he asked timidly.

Scott’s gaze snapped up to him.

“Define stupid,” he laughed coldly.

Gordon frowned. He’d heard Scott talk like this before, and it worried him. He was over protective of all of them, part and parcel of being a big brother, but with Virgil, it was borderline stalkerish, the way he kept tabs on him, tried to keep people he didn’t like away, tried to keep him his version of ‘safe’, at all costs.

“I dunno, getting in the way of this? Threatening Tycho, you know, the usual routine you follow as soon as _anyone_ shows an interest in Virgil?”

Scott frowned for a second, going to protest until the guilt he had felt last night when he had cornered Tycho, threatened him, spilled the worst parts of Virgil’s life to him resurfaced, bubbling uncomfortably.

It seemed his actions had had the direct opposite effect, if this was true. He had driven Tycho straight _to_ Virgil.

“Oh my god, you’ve done it already, haven’t you?” Gordon asked, a little aghast.

Scott sighed, heavy and deep, sitting down on the cold metal steps, hands going to cover his face as he processed everything.

“Yeah,” he spoke through his hands. “Last night. I wasn’t thinking straight and… I might have…” he looked up to Gordon, a little stricken, “threatened him and… told him about Jason and…”

He heard Gordon’s breath hitch in surprise as the confession spilled out.

“Scott, what the fuck?” he breathed, shocked. “You had no right to do that,” he said quietly.

Scott nodded sadly, looking back down to his feet.

“I know,” he admitted. “I fucked up. Big time.”

“Yeah,” Gordon agreed, a little angry at his brother. “Seriously. You can’t keep trying to make Virgil’s mistakes for him. And it looks like you did a shitty job of keeping them apart anyway,” he huffed. “Thankfully.”

Scott sighed again, tears pricking at his eyes. In the cold light of day and after a couple of hours of broken sleep, the feeling of regret and the wish to go back and take back what he’d said was stronger than ever.

Gordon shook his head in disbelief, wondering if he should check on Virgil, if he should check on _Tycho_. He made to move up the stairs with a huff, intent on storming off when Scott’s small voice caught his attention, making him stop.

“I can’t let him get hurt again,” he whimpered, burying his head in his hands again as tears of exhaustion, of desperation, of guilt began to fall from his eyes. “I can’t see him like that,” he choked. “I… You didn’t see him,” he wiped at his tears roughly. “You didn’t see him throwing up after taking too many pills, you didn’t find him, passed out from drinking in his room every day for a week. You didn’t have to go on rescues wondering if by the time you got back, he’d still be alive or if he’d have hung himself like he talked about doing. You didn’t… I can’t…”

Scott’s back heaved as sobs escaped him, taking Gordon by surprise.

“Scott,” he murmured as he sat down next to his older brother, wrapping an arm around his back. “I… I had no idea,” he said numbly as he processed the words.

His thoughts turned to Virgil. Happy-go-lucky, so positive it was annoying at times, reassuring, brave, strong Virgil, their family rock, the one they all turned to… He’d been suicidal?

A strange feeling settled in Gordon’s stomach, an uncomfortable weight which made him want to sprint up the stairs, to Virgil’s room, wrap him up in a hug and never let go.

And Scott… Scott had seen all of that and dealt with it on his own?

Well wasn’t that _just_ like him, to struggle by, trying to do the right thing, trying not to let anyone else get affected by it. But Scott didn’t have the same emotional stores that Virgil seemed to; he struggled to hold onto everyone else’s emotions, as well as his own.

Scott leaned into Gordon, years of pent up emotions bubbling to the surface and tearing down his façade, already weakened by sleep deprivation.

“You should have told us,” Gordon chastised him, pulling Scott’s head to his chest. “You shouldn’t have gone through that alone either.”

Scott took in a shaky breath, sniffing.

“I didn’t… everything was so fucked up,” he admitted. “I just wanted everyone to be ok. I wanted everything to be to normal, I still…” he paused. “Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Gordon smiled.

“Of course he will, it’s Virgil. And it sounds like everything has worked out for the best so far, no damage done,” Gordon offered reassuringly. Scott nodded slowly.

“I’m a fuck up,” he sighed, sitting upright once more, wiping furiously at his eyes.

“Aren’t we all,” Gordon quipped. Scott shot him a weak smile as he side-eyed him. “Well it’s true,” Gordon defended himself. “Name one of us who hasn’t fucked up massively at one time or another?”

“Alan?” Scott tried.

“Pfft,” Gordon laughed. “So he hasn’t told you about the spilling chocolate milkshake in zero g and having to rewire all the internals of Thunderbird 3 yet then?”

“What?” Scott exclaimed. “When was this?”

“About a year ago, all fine now but, man, that was funny!” he giggled. “Why do you think he went through about a year of always doing the washing up? It was the only way he kept us quiet.”

“Goddamn it,” Scott couldn’t help but smile. His brothers were maniacs, truly.

“But hey, seriously,” Gordon’s tone dropped. “I haven’t been around Tycho long enough to get a good read on him, but everyone speaks really highly of him. And Virgil actually seems _happy_ ,” he said softly. “Do you think we can just back off this one and let them actually have a chance?”

Scott huffed, familiar fear rising in him, quelled by Gordon’s hand on his bicep.

“And before you go thinking all doom and gloom, if anything does go wrong, we’ll _all_ be here to pick up the pieces.”

Scott smiled at him, grateful to have him around. Him and Alan had grown so much in the past 4 years, it was easy to forget they really weren’t kids any more.

“Just give them a chance,” he smiled back. “Virgil deserves happiness, and he’s a big boy. We’ll always be there for him, whenever he needs us, but… he knows what makes him happy.”

Scott nodded, moving to stand on the stairs as Gordon rose up.

“Thanks, Gordon,” he murmured, grateful for his family.

“Anytime,” Gordon chirped in response. “Seriously,” he squeezed Scott’s arm, grabbing his attention. “Virgil’s not the only one who’s a good listener.”

Scott snorted.

“Yeah, but Virgil won’t _immediately_ go and tell everyone within a five-mile radius what he’s heard seconds after you leave.

Gordon’s grin returned, splitting his face.

“Look, we live on a freaking island in the middle of no-where. Gossip is like, the only thing that keeps me going.”

“Speaking of gossip,” Scott gave him a wicked smile, “a little birdie told me that you’re going on a date with Penelope?”

Gordon’s smile turned coy as a bright red blush rose over his face.

“Gotta go,” he squeaked, moving to bounce away, up the stairs. “Bye, Scott!” he called back, practically sprinting up towards the lounge.

“You’ll have to book leave,” Scott shouted up after him, laughter in his voice. “I’ll know when it is!”

Gordon didn’t respond as he exited the stairwell, leaving Scott alone with his thoughts.

He heaved a sigh as he continued his journey down to the build room, hoping to catch up with Brains on the fault they had found in 1’s sensors yesterday.

Things were going to be okay, he concluded to himself. He just needed to back off.

That was easy, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not feeling great at the moment (lots of tooth pain and such) so I've had a little bit of a slow down, as well as writing the heavier (emotionally) chapters which delve into family dynamics. 
> 
> Will keep trying to update at least every other day!
> 
> This really is turning into a bit of a beast, and involving more characters than I thought it would! Oh well, things'll be ok! :D
> 
> Thanks again to everyone commenting and leaving kudos, you really do make my day! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Virgil confront secrets from Jeff's past.
> 
> Sally's on the warpath and Virgil is tired.
> 
> Depictions of family arguments and physical discipline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've managed to squeeze another one out today (though I'm supposed to be resting)!  
> Just wanted to pre-face this chapter by saying it's a bit heavy and deals with quite a lot of emotional stuff.
> 
> I've added some notes at the end regarding some of the content in this chapter.
> 
> I also want to dedicate this chapter to cookidoughlilac, Thesilentone, LadyEquinox, SteampunkLadybird, Mars_McKie, lexibirds, CreativeGirl29, Hsg, and EffervescentAardvark who have left kudos, comments and generally kept me going through any roadblocks I've encountered. 
> 
> You're all awesome! <3
> 
> On with the show.

Sally was sat at the far desk of the lounge looking at the large holographic globe in front of her, searching for any odd signals when Virgil hobbled down the stairs from the bedroom, finally back in his favourite plaid button up shirt (and glad of it), jogging bottoms hanging loose, the easiest thing to wear over his knee brace, crutches clacking on the wooden floor as he approached.

“Oh, Virgil, you got a message,” she called cheerfully, waving him over.

Virgil smiled at her, hobbling closer, careful on his leg. The exertion last night had put a little more pressure on it than he should have done, and it was twinging a little today.

“Morning, Grandma. Well, afternoon,” he corrected himself with a blush.

Sally smiled fondly at him as she handed him a small electronic receiver with a comm message for him on it. He took it from her and sat down in the bucket chair opposite the desk, looking up at the globe.

“You covering for John?” he asked, curious.

“Just for a few hours,” she smiled softly. “He’s got a few repairs to do, and he’ll be out of contact for a while, so I’m just playing housekeeper until he finishes up.”

“Oh, ok,” Virgil nodded. One day, they were going to have to start taking the necessary monthly maintenance to Thunderbird 5 seriously and not leaving it as an afterthought. Currently, it was done whenever possible, leaving John, alone and unaided (unless you counted EOS), to go EVA and fix everything himself.

They were damned lucky he was on Brains’ level as far as technical knowledge went, or they would have been screwed.

“So…” Sally looked over to Virgil once she was happy there were no immediate dangers present. “Have a good night?” she asked with a sly smile.

Virgil looked up from the receiver, having only noted the letter was from the hospital in Sydney regarding his physio with a shocked look on his face, one that quickly turned to embarrassment, a flush rising up his face.

“Grandma!” he hissed, looking around the room to make sure no-one else had heard. Thankfully, the only other person in the room at the moment was Alan, and he was half asleep at the dining table on the far side of the room, methodically chewing on what looked like a piece of toast.

He perked up and waved to Virgil when he noticed him looking over. Virgil returned a quick wave before turning back to Sally, his face a furious red.

“Well, I was just wondering, seeing as how you both slept in until one o’clock. If you needed that much sleep, I figured it must have gone well.”

“Yeah,” Virgil whined, trying _not_ to think about it in present company. “But it’s… I don’t know… weird, talking about it,” he tried, wanting the ground to swallow him up at the moment.

Sally gave a soft laugh.

“Hey, I was young once,” she countered, leaning back in her chair. “I remember what it was like to have a budding relationship.” She closed her eyes as she recalled some fond memories, letting out a sigh as she continued.

“He seems like a very nice boy.”

“He is,” Virgil sighed, eyes drifting for a moment as he recalled the moment he had fully sheathed himself in Tycho, feeling him pulse around him with crystal clarity. He cleared his throat as his senses came back, flush renewed in his face.

Sally grinned.

“Good,” she said softly before growing a little more serious. “Now I take it he told you what Scotty did?”

Virgil frowned at the question, pleasant thoughts now pushed away by a dark need to confront Scott.

“Yeah,” he muttered, sinking back into his chair.

Sally sighed.

“I know it wasn’t the best way to go about it, but he cares for you,” she reasoned. “He never wants to see you go through what you went through again. None of us do.”

“So grabbing a guest in our house and pinning them in a corner until they have a panic attack is the right way to go about it?” he asked, a little louder than he’d wanted, but he was _incensed_. Seeing Tycho in the state he’d been presented to him last night, it… “He should never have touched him,” Virgil stated firmly, hands balled into fists as he tried to control his anger. “And he had no right to tell him what he did, either.”

Sally raised an eyebrow.

“Told him what?” she queried softly, her usually calm eyes going a little wide.

“About…” Virgil hesitated, swallowing past the lump in his throat at the mention of… “Jason. About what he did. About how he… everything. He just told him, as if it it’s his fucking secret to share.”

He winced as the curse left his lips.

“Sorry, Grandma.”

The words left his lips as a whisper.

A beat of silence, then the scrape of a chair as Sally stood up a little too quickly, eyes focused on the globe for a moment before turning to Virgil. He was actually scared by the fire he saw there.

“Virgil, I need you to cover for me for a while,” she stated, sounding a _lot_ calmer than she looked. Virgil nodded fervently, not wanting to get on her bad side. “I won’t be long, just…”

She turned to Alan where he sat on the table, still half asleep, elbows beginning to slide out from under him as he rested his head on his hands.

“Alan, be a dear and get Virgil some breakfast, will you?” she called sweetly to him, her voice totally at odds with the rage wrinkling her face.

Alan’s head jolted up at the mention of his name, looking around to see Sally on the steps. His brain took a moment before he processed her request, noting the anger on her face and her hands where they were balled into fists at her sides, shaking a little.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing Grandma,” he smiled sweetly.

Sally nodded to him before giving Virgil one last forced smile and marching towards the hangar stairs.

Just as she reached the top, Gordon came sprinting out, his face red, heaving for breath. He must have bounded the entire way up the stairs.

“Gordon, have you seen Scott?” Sally called as he ran past, focus on something far away from his current situation.

“What? Oh, yeah, Grandma,” he smiled at her. “You _just_ missed him. He’s heading down to talk to Brains about Thunderbird 1.”

“Great,” Sally growled, marching down the stairs, hands still balled into fists.

Gordon watched her go with an odd look on his face, forgetting his original destination for a moment until he laid eyes on Alan, who was now prepping some toast for Virgil, who had grabbed the receiver and was no reading the letter from the hospital.

“What was that about?” he asked Alan as he approached the kitchen, a little taken aback at just how _angry_ Sally had seemed. “Looks like she’s on the warpath.”

Alan nodded, barely registering the words as he focused entirely on following through with Sally’s request to get Virgil some food.

Virgil looked up at the silence from Alan and shared a concerned look with Gordon, both looking back to Alan’s form, still on auto-pilot in the kitchen.

Gordon approached him slowly, watching his methodical actions, the smaller blonde’s eyes drooping as he did, looking like he hadn’t slept at all.

“Hey, Alan,” Gordon asked softly, the words making Alan jump as he moved towards Virgil with his now plated and buttered toast.

“Huh? Oh, hi Gordon,” he yawned, stumbling a little as he turned a little too fast.

Gordon grabbed the plate from his hands and used his free hand to steady the younger man.

“Alan, did you get any sleep?” he asked as Alan regarded him with a tired, shocked look, trying to process the action.

“Uh,” he began to respond, swaying on the spot a little. “Not… not really. I’m… bad dreams,” he mumbled, looking out of the kitchen to Virgil where the older man sat, returning a concerned gaze. “Wanted to make sure Virgil was ok,” Alan whispered, dropping his head a moment later, almost overwhelmed by exhaustion.

Gordon felt a pang of real concern run through him as Alan’s body became a little limper in his grip, struggling to stay upright.

“Fuck this,” he hissed, placing the plate on the kitchen side. “You okay to grab this in a second?” he shouted to Virgil across the room. He nodded the affirmative from the table. “Great,” Gordon said through gritted teeth, looping Alan’s arm around his broader shoulders, fresh concern blooming through him when he noticed just how _skinny_ Alan had become. “We’re getting you to bed, you _need_ to sleep,” he instructed Alan firmly.

The younger man just nodded with a sigh, too tired to protest.

“Let’s go,” Gordon said softly as he pulled Alan along with him, the younger man already half asleep again. As they moved past the table where Virgil sat, watching them with a worried frown, Gordon gave him a short nod, pulling Alan towards the stairs.

Virgil watched them leave with a heavy feeling in his stomach.

Alan often went through these phases, caught in a cycle of insomnia, stress about his insomnia which led to his body rejecting anything he put in it and would inevitably lead to him getting side-lined for a week while recovered, which led to more stress, until he finally broke and slept for a full 24 hours.

He would seem fine for a couple of month, and then it would all start again.

Virgil heaved a long sigh as he turned his attention back to the globe in front of him, looking for any issues presented, trying to distract himself. Gordon would take care of Alan. The one person who could convince him to rest was his closest brother, the one who had always been around to ground him, to look after him while everyone else had been at school, at college, working…

He knew he would be okay, but _damn_ , if seeing Alan like that didn’t send him into protective mode. If only he had more use of his body, if only dragging himself up the stairs to him room to comfort him wasn’t such a strenuous, arduous task.

He had suddenly realised how difficult it had been, lugging around his entire weight on the crutches, his arms aching as he focused on the pain.

A wave of frustration swept over him as he heaved a sigh, resting his elbow on the table and folded his hands together, leaning his head on the platform he made with them.

He knew that his recovery was not going to be easy or quick, but _damn_ this was frustrating.

Remembering the comm message he’d received which he’d only skimmed through as he was listening in to Gordon’s conversation with Alan, he picked up the receiver again and opened the message, text flashing up on the holographic screen, scrolling slowly as he read.

“ _Dear Mr V Tracy,”_ the letter began, “ _We are pleased to offer you a follow up physio appointment with Dr Dai Raffello on Wednesday 19 th at 2pm. If you cannot make this appointment, please contact the centre as soon as possible and we will make all reasonable attempt to rearrange._”

The rest of the letter was contact details and instructions on how to get to the centre.

Placing the receiver on the desk, Virgil moved the globe in front of him a little to the left, drawing up the digital calendar. The 19th was just over a week away. Plenty of time to arrange transport to and from to hospital.

A shiver of fear ran through him as he looked at the currently blank date on the calendar, wondering what might happen at the appointment.

He vaguely recalled, in their sign off at the hospital, the doctors mentioning that he would need to have his knee reviewed as soon as possible for any signs the healing was not progressing as normal. There had been mentions of more surgery as a possibility, and that genuinely scared him.

Over the past few days, there had been moments, few and far between but still there where he’d wondered, as pain spiked as he moved around, unable to do such simple things like getting in and out of the shower with the ease he’d previously taken for granted, if there would ever be a time when his knee would be back to its old full strength; if it would ever fully recover.

It was still very early days, but that fear that he would become useless, unable to help his brothers, unable to continue with the job he loved and had dedicated his life to was very real, and it lingered.

His dark thoughts were broken by a sudden flash of comms in front of him, Thunderbird 5’s logo pulsing.

“Hey John,” he answered with a soft smile, trying to push the thoughts of despair at his physical state to the back of his mind.

John’s holographic form appeared, floating effortlessly in the low gravity of the station. His brother regarded him as he sat at the desk with a small measure of confusion.

“Virgil,” he greeted him with a curious tone. “Where’s Grandma? I thought she was covering?”

“Yeah, she…” Virgil paused, not wanting to worry his brother. “She had to go and do something quickly,” he responded, keeping it vague. “She said she’ll be back in a minute; I was just filling in.”

“Oh,” John accepted the answer, turning his attention back to the read out in front of him. “Okay. I was only calling to let her know I’m back online and can take over monitor duty again.” He hesitated for a moment. “Are… you okay, Virgil?” he asked softly.

John had been worried about him since his accident, even coming down to make sure he was okay when he came back from the hospital, but he was often the busiest of the five of them, always on call, always needed. Not that John minded. Keeping busy was a coping mechanism, keeping the constant buzz of ideas, of concerns, of life from overwhelming him.

The constant noise was a lot easier to fight when he had a purpose.

“Yeah, could be better but I’m coping,” Virgil admitted with a smile. “Just can’t wait to be back to my normal self.”

John smiled a little.

“I can’t even imagine,” he said softly, regarding Virgil with a brief look of concern before he buried it back under his usual, neutral demeanour. “If you ever need some zero g time to help with the healing, you’re always welcome up here.”

Virgil smiled, heart swelling a little with adoration of his brother. John cared, in his own way. Offering up his own personal space was a big gesture, and he really appreciated it.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, John,” Virgil said with a smile, one that was immediately mirrored by John.

“Any time. So… have I missed anything exciting?” he asked, sounding a little disinterested as he continued. “While I was offline I got a message from Gordon to call him as soon as I could because he had some ‘big news’. He pranking people again?”

Virgil swallowed hard, silently cursing his younger brother.

“Not really,” Virgil lied, immediately regretting it as he sighed. “Well… actually…”

John’s gaze flicked back to Virgil’s face, watching the conflict gather there.

“What’s wrong?” John asked, suddenly focused. “Has something happened?”

A million thoughts rushed through John’s head as his anxiety took over, rushing him with visions of broken ships, broken brothers, death and destruction.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he waited, impatiently, for Virgil to answer.

Virgil noticed the change in his brother and spoke quickly to calm him.

“Everything’s fine, John,” he reassured him. “Nothing’s happened to any of the ships, no-one is hurt. It’s…” he hesitated, his own heart rate slowing a little as he saw John breathe a sigh of relief. “I just wanted to tell you before the little blonde blabber-mouth gets round to doing it for me.”

John gave a soft chuckle. Gordon was a total gossip, and even though he knew he shouldn’t, he enjoyed hearing all the little anecdotes and stories.

Virgil took a deep breath, stomach fluttering as he tried to find the right words.

“It’s not a huge deal but…” he bit his lip. It wasn’t that he was ashamed, more that he was scared. Scared of his brother’s reactions. It was a similar feeling to the one he had had as he tried to find to the words to come out, all those years ago; the anxiety that they would turn on him, say something spiteful, no matter how out of character it would be. His brain just wouldn’t let the idea go.

He took a deep breath.

“I’m seeing Tycho,” he managed, voice straining a little as he forced the words out. “As in… I’m… seeing him,” he repeated dumbly, unable to find words to explain in the right way.

John regarded his brother with a mildly shocked expression for a moment before a smile broke across his face.

“That’s… amazing, Virgil,” he beamed at him. Virgil’s gaze snapped up to his brother’s holographic form in shock.

“W-what?” he asked, perplexed at John’s reaction. The younger man let out a soft laugh.

“I mean it’s great. I’m happy for you,” John clarified. “It’s a big step, after…” he paused, “after so long on your own. You deserve this,” he finished, his grin wider than ever.

Virgil couldn’t fight the smile that crossed his lips, a rush of affection pulling at his heart as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, John,” he sighed, “I’m… I’m just worried about…”

“Scott?” John finished for him.

“Yeah,” Virgil slumped his shoulders.

Scott had been there, through everything. Seen him at his worst. Kept his darkest secrets, held him as he cried for hours on end, when he didn’t see a way out, when he wanted everything to end. Whenever things got too much, Scott had been there, foregoing his own well-being, his own life to look after Virgil in those first, arduous months.

He felt the same guilt wash over him now as had nearly drowned him all those years ago when he’d seen what his grief had done to Scott; when he’d known he had to fix himself or risk destroying his brother, too.

“He’s already threatened Tycho,” Virgil admitted solemnly.

He didn’t need to be looking at John to see the change in his expression as his voice portrayed it.

“Seriously? What the hell is his problem?”

“Me,” Virgil said without thinking, wondering when the self-loathing feeling he’d worked so hard to eradicate from his system had made its return.

John tutted over the comm.

“You aren’t a problem, Virgil,” he scolded gently, wishing he was closer, that he wasn’t thousands of miles away, unable to wrap his big brother up in a hug he so desperately needed.

John wasn’t a hugger but damn, Virgil gave good hugs, all strong arms and warmth. His hugs felt like home.

“Aren’t I?” Virgil croaked, a lump rising to his throat.

If it wasn’t for him, Scott wouldn’t be the paranoid wreck he was the second he saw any man start paying attention to him; Tycho wouldn’t be living in fear of his brother. International Rescue wouldn’t be down a pilot.

Hot tears formed in his eyes, his mind furious at his own sadness as he roughly wiped at his eyes, cursing his emotional nature.

“No,” John told him firmly, seconds away from running to the space elevator and descending just to wrap his brother in his arms, hold him close and tell him everything would be okay, like he’d done to him so many times. “You are anything but a problem, Virgil. You are the most needed person in our family. You are the only thing that holds us together,” he said, tone firm but soft. “Without you, none of us would be who we are. You keep us safe, keep up on the straight and narrow. We _need_ you.”

Virgil fought to ignore the voices creeping up his spine, whispering.

_‘He’s lying. They’re all lying. They’d be better off without you. They always have been. You were a burden then, you’re a burden now. They’ll all leave one day. They’ll leave you once they realise. He’ll leave you as well. You’re broken. Unlovable.’_

Virgil’s breath hitched in his throat as the tears welled up, looking to his brother.

John was about to open his mouth, to say something, when a screen appeared between both of them, an image of a pudgy, toddler Virgil, stuffed robot in his hands and dressed in a little tuxedo style onesie, running full pelt across a room full of wrapping paper.

He could only have been three or four, eyes full of mischief and joy.

They both stared for a second before a light, mechanical voice came over the comm.

“Perhaps this will be of assistance,” EOS chimed in her usual bright tone as the image began to move, turning into a video clip.

_Young Virgil’s laughter filled the air as Christmas music, some awful cheesy pop tune pumped out of the speakers in the background. The camera swung round, revealing Scott wielding a light up sword, chasing Virgil around at high speed._

_“Boys, be careful,”_ their fathers voice boomed out from behind the camera, making them both jump a little as they watched the video.

_“Oh, let them be,” their mother chuckled from the other side of the room._

Virgil’s chest tightened as he heard his mother’s voice… it had been so long…

Even after all these years, all the healing they’d done together… he had to keep the pictures of her in his room turned down. There were times he would just hold them and cry. He missed her so much.  
  
She had been his best friend, his biggest supporter. Even when his father had rounded on him, berating him for choosing art over technology, for choosing music over military, she would be there, shouting Jeff down, defending her boy, holding him afterwards, telling him how proud of him she was, littering his face with kisses as he squealed and tried to break free of her grip, embarrassed but loving it, loving being in her arms, held tight.

Hearing her voice sent his resolve crumbling, tears spilling from his eyes as he watched the camera pan over to where his mother was sat.

_“You can’t let them run out of control forever, Lucille,” Jeff said with a frown in his voice. Lucille just laughed._

_“You’re trying to tell me any child of yours will ever be quiet and well behaved?” she chuckled fondly, suddenly gasping as she looked across the floor. “Oh, Jeff! Look!” she cried excitedly, pointing across the room. The camera flashed round, landing on a tiny little John, only around a year old as he took a stumbling step, eyes wide with delight as Lucille squealed words of encouragement._

_“Oh John!” she cooed, gliding into frame as she moved to offer John her hands while he stood, giggling with delight at being able to move while upright, fascinated at the new perspective on the world. “Oh, Jeff, look at him!” she smiled, turning to the camera, revealing the smooth bump of her stomach,_

_Gordon,_ Virgil’s mind supplied, odd, cold feelings rushing through him as he watched the scene, feeling a little disconnected.

_There was a sudden blur of movement through the scene as Scott ran, screeching between Lucille and John, catching his tiny brother as he did so, sending the infant toppling over._

_The tone of the scene suddenly changed, the camera put down, still rolling as Jeff shouted for Scott, rage in his voice._

_“Scott Carpenter Tracy!” he yelled. The sound of his anger sent shivers through both John and Virgil as they watched the video, both recalling separate times that anger had been directed at them._

_“Jeff, it was an accident,” Lucille frowned at him as he went after Scott, bending to pick up John where he now lay on the floor, screaming as she did._

_She shushed him gently, wincing at the yells she could hear out of the frame._

_Virgil’s tiny body crept into view, still clutching his stuffed robot as he went up to Lucille, tugging at her leg._

_The shouts off screen got louder, her face changing from concerned to angry._

_“Virgil, baby, can you make sure John stays on the sofa?” she asked softly, her tone completely at odds with the look on her face._

_Virgil sucked his hands into mouth as he nodded, clearly scared at the shouting going on._

_Lucille placed John gently on the large leather sofa behind her, bending to kiss Virgil on the head before hurrying out of view._

_Virgil removed his hand slowly from his mouth, climbing up onto the sofa to sit next to John, pulling his baby brother into his lap the way he had seen his mum do so many times before. John protested a little more for a second, screaming as he watched Lucille walk away, turning with furious rage only a baby can truly muster, to face Virgil._

Both John and Virgil watched the video as baby John’s eyes settled on his brother, staring for a second before the tears broke into a toothless grin, John’s hands moving up to grab at Virgil’s nose.

_Virgil screamed with laughter._

_“Stop, Johnny!” he giggled, spurring John’s actions even more._

_Their sweet little moment was interrupted by the sounds of their parents shouting in the next room._

_John began sniffling in Virgil’s arms again, flailing his arms._

_“Hey, Johnny,” Virgil cooed to his little brother, stroking his hair gently. “It ok. They stop soon.”_

_A sudden rush of movement and Scott was back in the frame, throwing himself onto the floor with a loud cry, rolling onto his back and flailing his arms around._

_Virgil and John stilled, looking on._

_“What are YOU looking at?” Scott screamed at them, setting John off again._

_Virgil stared for a moment, looking a little lost as Scott stood up in front of him, hands balled up into fists at his sides, unsure what to do with all of the anger inside his tiny seven-year-old body._

_“Scotty,” Virgil said softly, holding out a hand as he shuffled John’s tiny body in his lap. “C’mere Scotty. I can hug you better,” he smiled weakly._

_All of the anger in Scott seemed to deflate as he heard his younger brother calling him, fresh tears falling from his eyes as he climbed up onto the sofa, laying next to Virgil who wrapped a tiny, pudgy arm around him, pulling him as close as he could._

_“It okay, Scotty. Me and you and Johnny are all ok.”_

_Scott sniffed._

_“I hate dad,” he sobbed, tears still streaming down his face. “I hate all the shouting. I don’t want him to shout.”_

_Virgil’s eyes widened as he leant up to kiss Scott on the face where he noticed a raw, red mark, too young to recognise the shape of a hand imprinted on the skin._

_“I won’t shout at you, Scotty,” he reassured him. “Johnny won’t shout.”_

_Scott shifted to look at his tiny little brother, smiling as John cooed up at him, reaching for his face._

_“One day, I’m going to run away, and we’ll all run away together,” Scott declared, reaching out a gentle hand to stroke John’s head. “And when the new baby gets here, we’ll run and we’ll take mom too and we’ll all run away and live on an island,” he declared. “And be happy forever.”_

_Virgil nodded frantically in agreement. He always did, to whatever his brother said._

_“We keep each other safe,” Virgil declared happily, pulling at Scott to get him snuggled up with him and John, the three of them beginning to doze happily together._

_It was a short while until the off screen shouting stopped._

John and Virgil watched the tiny versions of themselves, wrapped around each other and Scott, all sleeping soundly as their mother walked back into frame, not noticing the camera.

_Footsteps fell behind her, Jeff heaving a sigh._

_“You expect too much of him. Of all of them,” Lucille chastised him. “Look at them,” she pleaded. “They’re just kids.”_

_“Kids that will have to grow up someday,” Jeff corrected her sternly. “They’ve got so much ahead of them. There’s no point in coddling them now.”_

_“They’re babies,” Lucille hissed furiously. “Look at them! Scott’s only seven, how is he supposed to react when you hit him for running?”_

_“The same way I did,” Jeff retorted, “by learning and behaving.”_

_“By having it beaten out of you, more like,” Lucille scoffed, hesitating as Jeff visibly flinched. “Is that it? It happened to you so it’s fine for it to happen to them? You can just beat out all the bits you don’t like. That’s your family’s way, isn’t it?”_

_“Lucy,” Jeff said, his tone a warning._

_“Oh, what, Jeff?” she asked, catching herself as the anger made her voice loud. “You going to beat my attitude out of me too?”_

_“Lucy, I…”_

_“You said you’d be different,” she hissed, voice pure malice, “but you’re not. You’re just like your father,” she hissed, “and if you don’t get help, if you don’t get a handle on this anger of yours, I’m taking the boys as far away from you as I can and I will make sure you NEVER see them again. Not if this is the way it’s going to be. This is our home, not the military.”_

_Jeff moved forward, mouth open as if to say something but Lucille had already turned and left, storming out the other side of the room._

_Jeff heaved a sigh, sitting down on the sofa opposite his sons, watching them sleep. His chest began to heave as he buried his head in his hands, sobbing._

_“I’m not him,” he sobbed. “I’m… I’m sorry, Scott. I’m… Oh, god… Scotty, I…”_

The video suddenly cut off.

“EOS?” John asked, breathless.

“That is all there is,” she responded kindly. “Would you like to view it again?”

“N-no,” he stammered, gasping for breath.

Virgil sat, stunned behind the table.

“I’ve never seen that before,” he breathed. “Where – where did you find this?”

“It was in Jeff Tracy’s personal video collection,” she responded. “He annotated the video. Would you like to hear the annotation?”

“No,” John pleaded.

“John,” Virgil said in a questioning tone, looking to the shocked face of his brother.

“He hit Scott,” John said, reeling. He’d only ever known his father as a gentle man, one who was stern and firm, had a temper but was loving and patient. Not one who would ever be physical with his sons. Not the person he had just seen on the video. “He… That was _dad_?”

Virgil swallowed hard, past the lump in his throat.

“Mom always used to say he was a different man, say about how much he changed. Maybe whatever she said to him worked?”

“I… I never heard them fight like that,” John admitted.

“Me neither,” Virgil sighed. “Maybe they were just better at hiding it as we got older?”

“I don’t want to think about that,” John sniffed, fighting back tears.

Virgil swallowed as he looked to EOS via the comm.

“EOS, what did the annotation say?” he asked quietly.

“Virgil,” John pleaded, but EOS followed through with the request.

“The annotation reads: ‘ _Scott is headstrong and protective. He’ll make a great leader. Just need to get him to check his impulses. Virgil is caring, empathetic to others. Maybe medic? John, too young to tell. Will review when older. Another one on the way. Hope it’s another boy. Lucy wants a girl’_.”

A beat of silence.

“I-Is that it?” Virgil asked, almost dreading the answer.

“Yes,” EOS responded flatly. “There are no more annotations.”

“Even then, he was picking out our lives for us, looking for our strengths,” John remarked bitterly.

Out of all five of them, John had always been the most distant from his parents. He spent the year before his father’s death convincing himself that he had sent him up to the space station to keep him out of sight; he wasn’t as strong, brave, as physical as his brothers. He was the runt, as far as he was concerned, an embarrassment to an otherwise perfect bloodline, and nothing anyone, even Jeff could say would convince him otherwise.

“He only ever saw us as things, didn’t he?”

“You know that’s not true,” Virgil chastised him. “You know dad loved us.”

“He had a funny way of showing it sometimes,” John huffed.

“He was…” Virgil hesitated. “He was a complex man. It’s not an excuse for…” he gestured at the comm where the video had been, “ _that_ , but… he wasn’t perfect. None of us are.”

John sighed, shaking his head.

“What else did he keep secret from us?” he wondered aloud. Another beat of silence fell between them. “But… did you hear mom? I never knew she could get so angry!”

Virgil let out a sad laugh.

“Oh, man, you don’t remember me and Scot rubbing bright orange play-dough into the old house living room carpet, do you? That thing was _white_. Seriously, I thought we were done for!”

John regarded Virgil with a fond look.

“I think I know what EOS was going for with the video,” he said softly, regaining some of his usual demeanour.

Virgil cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You, Virgil. Even when you were that age. You’ve been there, for all of us. All the time. You never shouted, you never got angry, you never retaliated. You were always there, with open arms. Nothing’s changed. And…” he paused as he looked at his brother, wishing he was back on earth, that he was there with him to hold him close and let him know how _loved_ he was. “We love you. All of us. We couldn’t do this without you. And I don’t want you to ever feel otherwise.”

Virgil swallowed, a small smile creeping onto his face.

“Thanks, John,” he breathed, looking back to the comm. “Thanks, EOS.”

“My pleasure,” EOS chimed happily. “It is a good demonstration of your empathic nature, Virgil. I thought it prudent to remind you.”

“Thanks, EOS. I… I appreciate it.”

He looked to John, noting the drained colour of his face.

“John, are you okay?”

John hesitated, looking a little lost.

“I… I will be. I’m… gonna go. Got a lot to think about.”

Virgil nodded. That they did.

“Okay,” he sighed. “I love you, Johnny.”

John smiled weakly as he floated in front of him, the cold look in his eyes turning fond and warm as he looked back at Virgil.

“Love you too,” he sighed. “You take care. Get some rest,” he instructed. “Talk to you later.”

Virgil nodded as the comm cut off, his mind all over the place.

He had been as shocked as John to see that side of their father. He’d never seen that side of him. He’d heard the odd argument, heard the odd snide comment, faced his father’s anger in the face of defying his wishes for this future, but that… the pure anger towards a child, his mother’s words… It was a side of his parents he had never seen, and part of him still wished he hadn’t.

His thoughts turned to Sally… he wondered about her experience, his mother’s words about their grandfather.

After so many years of working to save people from all walks of life, Virgil had seen the best and the worst of humanity. He had seen amazing and terrible things, things that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

But seeing his mother and father, the anger, the fighting; it shocked him to his core.

His head was full to the brim with a mess of thoughts, beginning to overwhelm him until a message popping up on his the comm drew his attention away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say I have a *lot* of strong head canons about Jeff and his relationships with the boys, the way he formed IR and the way he handled a lot of situations, but I try to balance it out fairly within this chapter and will continue to do so in the upcoming ones.
> 
> I understand if a lot of people don't necessarily agree, but it's the way I've taken it, from TOS and from TAG, it seems the same. There'll be more balancing in the next chapter, but even if you don't agree, I hope you enjoy the writing and continue to do so! :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of heavy, emotional stuff here guys.
> 
> Mentions of drug use, suicidal thoughts

Scott had become accustomed to loud noises and surprises; it was his job, after all, the predict the unpredictable and where he couldn’t, to react accordingly with razor sharp precision and speed.

But _nothing_ could have prepared him for the rage filled scream that rang through Thunderbird 1’s hangar as he fiddled with the mechanical arms, getting the tracker components ready for switch over on Brains’ orders.

“Scott Carpenter Tracy!”

He froze as his full name echoed around the hangar. His full name. That only came out when shit was _really_ about to go down.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself, looking to the stairwell entrance where Sally appeared, marching towards him with fire in her eyes.

He took a moment to take a deep breath as she approached, mentally steeling himself for the words about to erupt from her, closing his eyes as he did so. When he opened them again, she was right in front of him, fuming, anger written in every line on her face.

“Grandma, I,” he began.

He was cut off as the flat of her hand made sharp contact with his face, slapping him hard across his left cheek, the force enough to turn his head.

He staggered back a little in shock, hand coming up to clutch at his face as he regained his bearings, staring at her in disbelief.

“How _dare you_ ,” she screamed, moving back towards him, hand raised again, spitting rage. “How DARE you spill out your brother’s life in front of someone like that!”

Scott blinked, trying to regain is senses, processing her words.

_Shit._

“I…” he began again, only to be cut off.

“No,” she shouted, bringing her hands down to her sides, physically shaking with anger, the noise echoing around the hangar. “There is _nothing_ you can say to make this better. You had NO right!”

Scott stared at her, shocked. He had never seen her this angry.

His face stung badly where she had hit him, the pain mixing with the shame he already felt.

“Just what made you do this to them?” she continued, voice echoing around the hangar, bouncing off the hollowed out rocks that helped make up the structure. “What made you think you had the right to tell Tycho everything that Virgil has been through, without his consent?”

Scott swallowed.

“What if it had been too much for him to handle at the start of a relationship? What if Tycho had left and not come back and left Virgil alone again?”

“I…” Scott tried to find the words to explain, his face crumpling as the guilt from already having this conversation with Gordon, the shame he’d made him feel, as well as the emotions from last night, from his encounter with Tycho returned full force. Exhaustion and concern stole the last of his composure as his eyes began to sting, his head swimming.

He reached back, feeling for the large crate of spare components behind him as he sat down, bringing his hands up to his face, emotions overwhelming him.

“I’m sorry,” he choked, closing his eyes, “I’m so… I fucked up. I wish I hadn’t… I…” he looked up to Sally, eyes brimming with tears. “I’m scared,” he admitted, biting back a sob.

His entire body shook with the effort of holding everything inside.

“I’m so scared.”

Sally’s hands relaxed at her sides as she watched Scott change. She had come down expecting a full confrontation, a shouting match between the two.

Scott was always headstrong, impulsive. He often acted on instinct, actions taken before his brain kicked in. He was his father’s son through and through.

But sSuddenly, curled in on himself, head in his hands, tears streaming down his face, Scott looked so _young_.

“Oh, Scotty,” Sally’s face crumpled as she moved towards him, looping an arm around his back.

Scott shuffled up a tiny bit so Sally could sit down next to him, collapsing into her embrace as she stroked his back, one hand going to his head and pulling it into the crook of her neck.

“What if I can’t save him this time?” Scott choked through his sobs, his entire body shaking as his emotions ran over him. “What if I’m not strong enough to get him through it this time? I… I can’t do it again,” he heaved, “I can’t watch him… I can’t let him go through that again. I can’t h-hold us both up, I can’t.”

His words turned to sobs as he turned himself fully into Sally, wrapping his arms around her and clutching on for dear life.

Sally pulled him tight, tears rolling down her cheeks now as she placed a gentle kiss on his head, hands rubbing comforting circles onto his back.

“Oh, Scotty,” she sighed sadly, holding him close as he sobbed.

She just held him as he cried it out, unsure of how much time was passing as he let out all of the pent up emotions, all of his fear, bottled up over the last four years, all of his regret, all of the sadness he had held onto seeing his brother’s grief, everything.

It was some time before Scott’s body stopped shaking, his sobs turning to sniffs, turning to silence.

When he had cried all the tears he could, he pulled away from Sally a little, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand, embarrassed and ashamed but _so_ relieved to have it all out of his system.

Sally released one of her hands, the other still resting on Scott’s back as he breathed steadily, trying to find his words again.

“I fucked up,” he admitted, voice hoarse from crying.

“I know,” Sally sighed. “And it was wrong, but it’s done, it’s over.” She hesitated for a moment. “Scotty, I’m so sorry I hit you,” she murmured, feeling her own shame wash over her. “I was just so _angry_ ,” she said softly, a hint of the now repressed emotion bubbling in her voice. “You really had no right.”

“I know,” Scott’s voice hitched with his words. “I just… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He sighed, his chest rattling.

“I don’t want to watch this happen all over again.”

“You think Tycho is the same as Jason was?” Sally asked softly, eyes fixed on Scott’s face as he thought for a moment.

“No,” he replied after a moment. “Not at all. He’s… he’s kind and he’s honest and… I know it’s not the same, I just…”

His body shivered as he recalled the darkest moments he’d experienced with Virgil, physically restraining him (with some difficulty) from going to his room after he’d threatened to end his life in a drunken stupor, finding him passed out in the shower from an overdose of anti-anxiety pills, holding him and wondering if he’d ever see his big, brown eyes open again.

“I’m scared,” he said numbly. “I’m scared it’ll all end the same. I know it’s stupid but… I… I can’t lose him.”

Sally nodded shortly, letting out a soft sigh.

“Tycho cares about him,” she reasoned. “He really does. You’ve seen the way they look at each other. And if your little _outburst_ hasn’t put him off, after seeing Virgil the way he’s been since the accident hasn’t put him off…”

“I know, I know,” Scott sniffed. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about what happened.”

“I understand,” Sally smiled softly. “I really do. Just… Virgil has a right to be happy. To move on. And so do you.”

“But what if I can’t?” Scott asked, a note of panic in his voice. “What if I can’t… Every time I think about it, all I see is him hurt, is him…” he swallowed. “None of you saw him the way I did. None of you… I can’t do it; I can’t give up that much of myself again.”

“Scotty,” Sally began, but Scott shook his head.

“I get so angry sometimes,” he admitted. “I get so angry he can move on like that, like nothing happened, when I’m left with… this… this fear that never goes away. It’s fucking _killing_ me, Grandma,” he whimpered, “I wish I wasn’t angry but I am, I’m so fucking angry, I just want to punch something.”

Sally pulled away a little, shocked at the confession.

Scott drew a shaky breath, continuing as his anger began to reveal itself.

“I’ve spent so much time trying to keep him safe, trying to keep him from getting hurt, and the second the chance to get himself into another situation like that comes along, he jumps right in it!” he snarled, clenching his fists. “It’s not fair, it’s…”

He stared down at his clenched fists, the realisation of his anger finally hitting him as he drew in a deep sigh.

“I don’t want to be the one to pick up the pieces again,” he muttered, shocked at the bitter tone in his own voice.

Sally reached for him, pulling him closer even as he protested, eventually giving in and letting her pull him into her embrace, shushing him as he closed his eyes, burying his face in her neck again, feeling like a child.

“Scotty,” she cooed, the position sending her back in time to how she would comfort him as a child. “I know nothing I can say can make this easier,” she paused, stroking his hair fondly, “but you need to let him go. You need to let him make his own decisions. And you need to let him love again.”

Scott sobbed into her chest.

“But what if he gets hurt?”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Scott paused, sniffing loudly.

“I want to trust him,” he murmured. “I want to think that he’d never hurt him but…”

“Get to know him,” Sally urged, clutching at Scott, wishing she could take his pain from him. “Talk to Tycho, talk to Virgil. You can’t hold onto all this fear and anger all the time. Look what it’s doing to you.”

“But what if I’m right?” Scott pulled back to look at her, terror in his eyes. “What if he doesn’t come back, what if…?”

“You can’t live your life on what if’s,” Sally reasoned, pulling back from their embrace to look him in the eye. “And you can’t keep doing this to yourself, to Virgil. You…” she hesitated, unsure if she should say what she was thinking. “You need to lean on us more, kid. You need to let us take some of the load. You don’t have to do everything yourself.”

Scott stiffened a little, pulling away from her.

“Yes I do,” he retorted. “I have to be everything dad was and more. I have to be the one who looks after us. Now he’s gone, I’m all they have,” he gestured to the ceiling, to the floors above.

“Oh, and what am I? The housekeeper?” she replied flatly.

“No, I…”

“You need to stop acting like you have to be everything to everyone, Scotty,” she said softly, her tone pleading. “We’re family. Family look out for each other. And god only knows what your brothers would get up to if you burned yourself out and had to take some time off. They’d go crazy.”

“But…”

“No buts,” she said firmly, standing up carefully. She turned to look down on him, the red handprint on his cheek still visible.

Guilt washed over her again. She’d been wrong to hit him.

“Forgive me,” she murmured, sadness in her eyes as she looked over him.

_What would Lucille have thought?_

The thought of their mother and her own past sent a shudder through her. Her husband, her Grey, had always been good to her in his later years, but when he first came back from his conflict tours… PTSD was a powerful thing; it robbed parts of people away and sent strangers home to their families.

After his treatment and the way he’d treated Jeff for so many years, the damage had been done, but after his death, they’d sworn, all three of them, that Lucy’s boys, her _babies_ would never go through the same thing.

Scott’s gaze snapped up to her.

“For what?”

“For hitting you.”

“Grandma,” he breathed.

“No, it was wrong of me. I… I’m sorry.”

“I deserved it,” Scott said sadly.

Sally inhaled sharply, reaching for him, cupping his face and tilting his chin up to face her.

“Never, ever think that,” she said, trying to keep her tone calm even as tears welled in her eyes. “You never deserve anything like that. Even when you have been a real dummy.”

Scott gave a soft sigh as he laughed in response.

“I really did mess up,” he admitted. “I… Thank you, Grandma. I’ve held onto so much for so long.”

“You’re strong,” Sally smiled at him, stroking over his cheek with her thumb, fondness in her eyes now. “But don’t feel like you have to be. Lean on us, okay? We love you. All of us. You don’t have to save the world all the time.”

Scott huffed out a bitter laugh.

“If I don’t, who will?” he asked.

Sally sighed as she pulled him in for another hug.

“I don’t know, Scotty. I just wish it didn’t have to be you.”

The words had Scott pulling back from her embrace, standing up to look at her in shock.

“What?” he asked, genuine surprise in his voice.

Sally sighed, closing her eyes as words she’d fought against, words she hadn’t repeated since having it out with Jeff all those years ago clawed their way up her throat.

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told your father back when he started all this,” she began slowly, looking to Scott as she did. “And no matter what you think of me, of him, of any of this, I want you to know that he loved you more than anything in the world, even if he had trouble showing that sometimes. Especially after… after your mother.”

She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath.

“He shouldn’t have put all this on you. You were all just kids. Heck, Alan still _is_ a kid and we’ve got him flying damn rockets into deep space to save people who do nothing but disrespect him for his age!”

She sighed, trying to keep her anger in check as she spoke, Scott’s attention fully on her.

“I always told him, if he was going to do something like this,” she gestured towards Thunderbird 1 and around the hangar, “he should get in people with experience, people who knew what they were doing.”

Another pause as she weighed her words. Scott deserved the truth, but she didn’t want to taint his, any of the boy’s view of their father. She loved her son fiercely, and even in the end she would have done anything she could, traded her life for his. But that didn’t mean she agreed with everything he did. Far from it.

“Instead, he insisted that the operation be family run. You boys would fly the ships, would train, every day, would risk your lives to save people in need. He was being selfless, giving his own children to the world in the hope that no-one would ever go through what he went through,” her voice slipped a little with anger. “But he was so wrapped up in saving everyone else, he never saw what he was doing to you, to all of you…”

Her gaze met Scott’s as he processed her words, a deep kind of hurt in his eyes.

“Especially you, Scott.” She reached for his hand, gripping it tightly when he offered his. “He _always_ expected too much from you, even when you were tiny. You were always so far ahead of everyone else, it was difficult for people not to think you were older. But this…” she gestured around again. “This was never a choice. This was what was _expected_ of you.”

She sighed again, the deep sadness which she’d first felt when Jeff had announced to her he was going to train the boys to fulfil his dream, his project, reaching her heart.

“I tried to tell him it wasn’t fair, that you deserved your own lives but he… he was my son,” she smiled sadly. “Headstrong, impulsive, and his mind was made up.”

“Grandma,” Scott whispered lowly, still reeling from her admission. “We wanted this. We all wanted this. We wanted to help people. Maybe we couldn’t save mom, but look how many other people we’ve saved!”

Sally sighed as she nodded, squeezing Scott’s hand.

“I know, hon, and I’m more proud of you and the work you and your brothers do every day than you’ll ever know. Really. I just…”

She looked down as she sighed again, tears forming in her eyes as all of the emotion she’d buried for so long resurfaced.

“I just wish he’d given you a choice. I wish you hadn’t have had to train for twelve hours a day until you were exhausted and he was satisfied. I wish he hadn’t constantly berated your brothers for not…” she took a deep breath, knowing she shouldn’t let her rant against Jeff continue. Not when he wasn’t here to defend his actions. He was a complicated man. He always had been. He was like his father, constantly learning, making mistakes, improving himself, but not always before the damage was done.

She briefly wondered if, had he been here, seeing Virgil the way he’d been when he was first found would have made any difference.

It was with a sad a bitter realisation that the thought settled.

 _No. He would have just berated him for not clipping himself onto the rig the moment he woke up_.

And it wasn’t out of spite, it wasn’t out of hatred or true anger.

Like everything after the avalanche, everything that Jeff did or said or thought was a direct response to the underlying, horrific truth that no matter what he did, no matter what he tried, who he saved, how many people were alive because of him and his family, that Lucille was dead and was not coming back, and doing everything in his power to make himself forget it in a haze of work, of making everything and everyone around him useful.   
  
If they had a purpose, they could stay. If not, he would _make_ them have a purpose, train them until their strength emerged and he could decide where they would fit in the big plan that was his life.

“Grandma?” Scott asked, his voice quiet and soft. He sounded so young right in that moment, as Sally drew herself out of her thoughts and looked at him with a soft smile, she was almost surprised to see him, a grown man now, tall, strong, capable.

“I’m sorry,” she chuckled softly. “Getting lost in my own thoughts.”

She sighed again, beckoning him to sit back down next to her. He complied.

“Scott, I never want you to think I don’t 100% support the work we do, or that I didn’t love your father with all of my heart. I just… I wish you hadn’t had to sacrifice your lives, your childhoods to support his dreams. I wish you didn’t have to constantly be on call, to throw yourselves into danger every day because of a mistake _he_ made. Because of decisions _he_ made.”

Scott shook his head lightly as she finished her piece.

“Grandma, I appreciate that, but do you think for second any of us would have turned this down? That any of us would have walked away from this?” he asked, face completely serious. “Dad wasn’t the only one who lost mom,” he shot at her. “Dad wasn’t the only one suffering and wanting to help people. He didn’t force any of us into this. This was our choice.”

“Scotty,” Sally began, feeling guilty for bringing all of this up. “I never…”

“No,” Scott cut her off, snatching his hand away from her. “Dad was a good man. Even when he was angry, even when he didn’t treat us the best, he had good intentions. He loved us. All of us.”

“He did,” Sally agreed, desperate to undo the damage she’d begun to do. “He really did. I just wonder what your mother would have thought about all of this.”

Scott froze, a silence falling over them both as he thought over her words.

What _would_ have mom thought about it? She used to be livid that Jeff would let them climb on the rocks outside their home, constantly worrying that they would fall and hurt themselves. If she saw them now, piloting hundreds of tonnes of metal and rescue equipment into some of the most dangerous situations imaginable…

“She would have been pissed,” Scott admitted with a soft laugh. “And dad would have got an earful.”

Sally smiled, relief that Scott was calming down washing over her.

“She would have been proud though, same as I am. Same as your father would be. I might not have agreed with him using you all to live out his dream, but under you, Scott, International Rescue has become a _great_ organisation. Your father may have planted the seed but you’ve made it grow. I just really wish that you hadn’t had to have given up a part of yourselves to make that happen.”

She drew a deep breath, looking to Scott as the frown faded from his face.

“I wish you could be normal kids occasionally. I wish there _weren’t_ people trying to infiltrate us and destroy us at any given moment. I wish you could go on dates, drive sports cars, go spend stupid amounts of your father’s money on booze and useless junk. You know, what _kids_ are supposed to do.”

“We have leave for that,” Scott defended with a weak smile. “And who says we don’t go on dates?”

Sally was taken aback, a small smile crossing her face.

“Well you never tell you ol’ Grandma about your dates, do you? And you never bring anyone home. I guess it _would_ be a little awkward taking me out to night clubs or wherever you go nowadays. I’m not really in the ‘scene’ anymore.”

Scott laughed at the image of her perched on a barstool in her usual cerise track suit, waving to him as he tried to flirt (uselessly) with some hot girls.

“Yeah, that’s…” he thought for a moment, brain catching up with everything she’d said. “I get what you’re saying, Grandma,” he assured her after a moment, shuffling next to her and wrapping his arm around her back. “And I have to admit, there are times I really wish that I could just up and leave for a week, go off on a stupid spending spree, buy a yacht or something. We all do! But…” he looked her in the eye, dipping his head a little to get on her level. “No matter what we miss, no matter how much it sucks sometimes, I don’t think there’s a single one of us who would give this us. Who would stop helping people. That’s just not who we are.”

Sally smiled at him, pride overwhelming her as she reached for him, pulling him in for a hug which he returned immediately, smiling as she did do.

“I am so, _so_ proud of you boys,” she sniffed, clutching at him where they sat together. “And I am so proud of you, Scott. Never, ever forget that.”

“Even when I’m a colossal screw up who nearly ruins his brother’s relationships?” Scott chuckled sadly.

Sally pulled back, looking at him with a stern look.

“It’s still not ok,” she admitted with a deep sigh. “But Virgil will understand. He loves you. He knows you care. Just… you need to…”

“Move on, let go, I know,” Scott returned the sigh, pulling back from the embrace to run his hands over his face. “I guess we’ve all got our issues, in one way or another.”

“This isn’t exactly a normal situation by anyone’s count,” Sally gave a sad smile. “I guess we’ve just got to find out own ways of dealing with it.”

Scott nodded, mulling over their conversation as they shared a moment of comfortable silence.

“I wonder, sometimes,” Scott admitted quietly, “what we would all be like if mom was still here. If dad had never started this. I think about how Alan would be in university, studying.” He looked at Sally. “He’s so smart, he should have had the chance. And Gordon… he wanted to be in WASP _so_ badly… John… I don’t know, 5 seems to just suit him but… Virgil…”

He swallowed a little, wondering how much he would actually have been willing to sacrifice, how Jason would never have had reason to enter their lives if it wasn’t for International Rescue.

“He’s so talented. His paintings and his music… I do… I wish he’d had the chance, a better chance to do more. But… he’s so much more than that now. He’s… In our own ways, International Rescue has saved us, formed us into better people.”

He swallowed hard, thinking of how bratty he had been in the years leading up to him mothers death; they’d been surrounded in school by similarly rich kids, all expecting the best of the best, clothes, gadgets, cars… he’d turned into a bit of a brat.

“I don’t know I would have liked the person I would be if all of this didn’t happen,” he admitted, not liking the implications. “I know that’s a horrible thing to say, like I’m glad mom died, because I’m not, not ever, but…”

Sally ran a hand down his back.

“I know,” she whispered. “You don’t have to say it.”

Scott nodded, a little numbly.

“I need to apologise to Virgil,” Scott mumbled, looking to his feet. Sally smiled a little.

“I think that would be wise.”

“Should I… Do you think I should apologise to Tycho as well?”

“Yes,” Sally replied instantly. “You got him in a bit of a state last night. He…” she hesitated. She’d already given Scott a talking to about spilling people’s secrets, and she wasn’t sure Tycho would want to world to know how vulnerable a state she’d found him in. “Just take it slow and tell the truth,” she advised finally, patting Scott’s shoulder.

“I will,” Scott gave a weak smile. “Thanks, Grandma. For everything. I… It’s not what I wanted to hear, about dad and the way you felt, but… I appreciate the honesty.”

Sally smiled, her resolve broken a little by the sadness in his voice.

“I’m sorry if it upset you,” she offered. “I guess I had as much to get off my chest as you.”

Scott snorted softly.

“We should hire a counsellor for the island. I think we all need it.”

Sally laughed, standing up gingerly, aches and pains assaulting her as she did so. One of the joys of getting older; the constant background pain that came with it.

“Maybe,” she mused. “Or maybe we can all stop keeping secrets and be honest with each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh it's the weekend again so I can write for hours once more! (toddler permitting).
> 
> This is SOOO not going the way I thought it would. 
> 
> "Just write a few pages, Dani, it'll be a really cute, sweet story, it'll be fun!"
> 
> Currently on 133 pages and 66590 words... Long may the beast grow!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When having fun with an injured knee, one must always be cautious.
> 
> More feels and some sexiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so I re-wrote this chapter a couple of times but I'm actually really happy with the way it turned out. Hoping I'm satisfying everyone with getting to the meat of the characters and their development.
> 
> I now see an ending for the story, but there's a lot to come between now and the point I want to get to, so it looks like y'all are in for this ride with me!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments, I always welcome constructive criticism as well, would love to know what people think! 
> 
> Thanks for reading. On with the show!

“Tycho,” Virgil whispered, hands threading through tousled, sweat soaked hair as the slimmer man carefully pushed him into his pilot’s seat behind him, mindful not to put too much pressure on his leg.

“Fuck, please,” he whimpered as the inventor’s hands ran up his thighs, pressure through the warm layer of his joggers as his hands slid up, one running over his hardening cock both delicious and frustrating.

Tycho had a wicked smile on his face as he looked up to Virgil, dropping down to his knees as he teased the larger man, watching his face as he closed his eyes, head thrown back at the sensations assaulting him.

He’d been thinking about this for _hours_.

Since he’d left Virgil’s room this morning, hands shaking as he made his propositions for the day, slamming the door a little louder than he’d meant to as adrenaline rushed through his body, he’d tried to ignore the thrumming in his chest as he’d gone through the mundane tasks of the day, grabbing something to eat, heading down to Thunderbird 2 and stripping off the panelling how Virgil had shown him to begin work on the componentry.

But as he had looked over the pilot’s seat, thinking back to his suggestion to Virgil that he sit there as he rode his cock, his ability to concentrate had diminished somewhat.

Getting more and more pent up, he sent a comm message up to Virgil, asking for help with the layout of the componentry. A poor excuse, but it seemed to work, drawing Virgil down to his ship with the tell-tale clacking of his crutches echoing around the hangar.

By the time Virgil had actually shown up, a sad smile on his face but not wanting to talk about what had put it there, Tycho had all but launched himself at him, kisses swiftly turning sexual, hands roaming over each other’s bodies and finally, Tycho moving to sit Virgil down in his rightful place within 2.

“We should have stayed in bed,” Tycho admitted, his voice low with lust as his deft fingers reached the waistband of Virgil’s joggers, fingertips dipping underneath the elasticated band and pulling them down.

Virgil did his best to shift his hips, allowing Tycho to pull the material away from his body, exposing his now rock hard cock to the cold air of the cockpit, raising a soft moan from the inventor.

“Been thinking about this all day.”

Virgil couldn’t hold in the hiss that escaped him as his naked backside made contact with the soft leather of his chair.

“You really are desperate for me, aren’t you?” Tycho mused, hands resuming their run up Virgil’s now bare thighs. “Coming to me without underwear on… you’re filthy,” Tycho hissed as his hands reached the base of Virgil’s cock, one hand slipping downwards, cupping his balls while the other circled his shaft, giving a slow, torturous pump. “And I fucking _love_ it,” Tycho grinned, leaning forward to lick at the head of Virgil’s cock.

The pilot moaned, not only under the physical sensations, but exhilarated by this new, more dominant side of Tycho as his clever hands continued to move, one now squeezing his balls gently, sending a ripple of pleasure throughout his body, the other continuing to pump his cock.

Tycho grinned as he lapped at the sensitive, smooth flesh of the head of Virgil’s cock, drinking down the moans the larger man let out.

His hand moved down Virgil’s cock, pulling back his foreskin a little, moving his mouth over the head of his cock and beginning to descend on the rigid flesh.

Virgil groaned, loud and long, his hand gripping Tycho’s hair as the pleasure intensified. Tycho’s tongue added pressure along his shaft as he took as much of his cock into his soft, sweet mouth as he could, drawing himself back up and pressing back down again rhythmically, actions fluid and slow.

“F-fuck, Tycho,” Virgil whimpered, resisting the urge to push the smaller man down onto his cock, force him to take him deeper into his mouth.

Tycho smiled around his cock, bobbing his head a little faster, hollowing his cheeks and creating as much pressure as he could before pulling off almost all the way, placing a tender kiss on the head of Virgil’s cock, tongue flicking out to tease the slit.

Virgil could do nothing but moan and writhe under Tycho’s actions, gritting his teeth in an effort to keep quiet and focus on not bucking his hips up into the inventor’s mouth as he took him back in again, the hand cupping Virgil’s balls beginning to move mouth, teasing the soft patch of skin behind his balls.

Another moan was torn from the larger man as his hips finally bucked up, his cock sliding up into Tycho’s mouth, hitting the back of his throat.

Tycho pulled back off of Virgil’s cock, removing both of his hands from their positions to brace himself on Virgil’s thighs as he leant up a bit, coughing.

“Fuck, Tycho, I’m so sorry,” Virgil murmured, leaning forward to pull him close, only to have Tycho’s hand shoot out, pushing him back.

“Do that again,” Tycho hissed, eyes almost black with lust as he looked up to Virgil, “and this stops. Completely. No more until you can prove to me you can behave.”

Tycho’s mind was racing; was he pushing Virgil’s boundaries too far?

As much as he loved being dominated by Virgil, having this power over him, telling him what to do and having the larger, muscular man comply, it gave him a rush he couldn’t describe.

His concern faded away as Virgil bit his lip and nodded, desperate for contact.

“S-Sorry,” he murmured, shifting himself back in the seat a little.

Tycho shot him a sly smile.

“Atta boy,” he praised him, noticing the twitch of Virgil’s cock as he spoke. “Now what’s say you keep those hands out of the way as well?” he mused, _loving_ the flash of total desire that ran over Virgil’s face. “You keep your hands behind your head. No touching, or I stop. Understood?”

Virgil nodded furiously, moving his hands up to where Tycho had instructed.

Tycho sighed, desperate to get back on his cock, to taste him again.

“So good at following instructions,” he grinned, leaving Virgil breathless as he wasted no time sinking his mouth back down onto his cock.

A loud moan escaped Virgil’s lips before he could stop it, caught by surprise at the act.

He groaned in frustration, all of his focus on keeping his hips still and _not_ threading his hands in Tycho’s hair, and _fuck_ , it was torture.

“Tycho,” he moaned lowly, wishing he hadn’t agreed to his terms, that he could have his hands on him. “Fuck, _please_ ,” he begged, not really knowing what he was asking for.

Tycho grinned around his cock once more, bobbing his head faster now, hands running up the inside of Virgil’s thighs as he continued to suck at him.

“I need you, _fuck, please_ Tycho, I fucking need you,” Virgil gasped, head rolling from side to side on the headrest behind him, crushing his hands as he did so, not hard enough to hurt but enough to provide a distraction from the waves of pleasure cresting inside him, amazing but no-where near enough to get him to the edge.

Tycho pulled back, his smirk still on his lips as he gave Virgil’s cock one last flick with his tongue, the larger moan groaning at the sensation.

The inventor moved forward, settling himself on Virgil’s lap. He was still fully clothed in Virgil’s tight black jeans and navy shirt, a prominent bulge betraying his arousal as he ground himself against the pilot’s exposed erection.

He pressed himself against Virgil’s solid chest, hands running up his arms, pressing down when they reached his huge forearms, holding them in position as he leant forward, bending enough to capture one of Virgil’s nipples with his lips, sucking lightly, flicking with his tongue, loving the whimpering moans that spilled from the larger man’s at the sensation.

His lips left the sensitive nub and travelled up his chest, leaving a trail of kisses and nips as they went, reaching his neck and turning into soft, butterfly touches, barely there but enough pressure to drive Virgil wild.

“How do you want me?” Tycho whispered into the skin just below Virgil’s ear, still planting soft kisses as he waiting for a response. “Do you want me to ride you like we talked about this morning? Or do you want to fuck me against the control panel?”

Virgil let out a long moan, hips bucking, causing his bare cock to rub against Tycho’s clothed bulge, creating even more frustration for him; he needed to feel Tycho’s skin on his soon or he was going to lose it.

“W-whatever we do,” Virgil panted, testing Tycho’s grip on his forearms by flexing them under his grip, an action which sent ripples of arousal through Tycho as he realised, not for the first time, just how _strong_ Virgil was, “there will never be a time I’m on a r-rescue that I d-oh fuck,” he breathed as Tycho ground against him again, “that I don’t think about this, about f-fucking you in my ship, oh, fuck, Tycho!”

Virgil thrust up, hips lifting him from his seat, grinding himself wildly against Tycho when a fresh cry was torn from his lips.

But this was not a cry of pleasure.

“Shit, fuck,” Virgil winced, hands flying out from behind his head as he gripped the seat underneath him, one hand going to his bad knee.

Tycho reacted immediately, jumping back, avoiding any pressure on Virgil’s bad leg as he stood.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping back to assess the damage as Virgil’s hands both went to his knee, putting gentle pressure on it, checking for any movement.

“Yeah,” Virgil hissed through gritted teeth, looking up at Tycho with a weak smile once he was satisfied his knee hadn’t dislocated again. “Just a bit too much movement.”

Tycho nodded, concern replacing the lust he had felt moments before, watching Virgil shift a little, trying to re-dress himself.

He looped one arm under Virgil’s arm, helping him to stand, trying not to stare at Virgil’s cock as he gingerly pulled his joggers back up to cover himself.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil murmured, embarrassed. Tycho smiled softly, leaning up to kiss Virgil’s cheek as he supported him, trying to portray reassurance in the gesture.

It seemed to work as Virgil turned his head, meeting Tycho’s lips with his own in a gentle kiss.

“It’s my fault,” Tycho admitted softly as they broke apart, looking down. “I shouldn’t be pushing so hard. I just…”

“Hey,” Virgil reached for his face, tilting his chin up to face him, smiling as Tycho relaxed into the touch. “It’s okay. I understand. This is… intense, and I feel it too. I just…”

A loud clang behind them made them both jump as the access hatch to the ship slid open, Kayo’s head popping up through the hole it created.

“Virgil?” she asked, looking around, relief washing over her face as she spotted him.

Tycho took a step back from him, a move that drew a questioning look from Virgil before he turned as best as he could to face Kayo.

“Hey Kayo,” he greeted her, a pained looked crossing his face as he tried to shift himself round, leaning on the seat for support. Tycho passed him his crutches a moment later, refraining from helping him fit them on his arms.

“Are you okay? I heard shouting,” she asked softly, her tone at odds with the suspicious look on her face as she regarded the two of them.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he reassured her with a smile. “Just stood up a bit fast. We were just looking into the componentry,” he explained, gesturing to the pile of circuit boards behind them.

“Okay,” she gave a soft smile. “Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Virgil looked back to Tycho, who had returned to rummaging around in his tool box, getting ready to get back to work, a light blush still on his face, looking oh so innocent, as if he hadn’t been sucking Virgil’s cock mere minutes ago.

“No, I think we’re good,” he reassured her. “Did you need anything else?”

Kayo narrowed her eyes, looking between them once more with an implacable expression.

“Actually, yes,” she smiled brightly. Virgil’s heart dropped. He knew that smile. That was a ‘ _I know something’s going on and I’m going to get you to spill it even if you don’t want to_ ’ smile, and it sent a chill down his spine.

She knew. _Of course_ she knew. She was head of security. Nothing got past her.

“I’m being seconded to Thunderbird 2 to help Alan and Gordon while you’re resting up,” she explained, voice calm as ever, “but I’m not overly familiar with the modular pod setup. I was hoping you could give me a quick run through of it, if you have time?”

Virgil wanted to call bullshit; Kayo picked things up faster than any of them. She knew their systems inside out, could master any software or hardware put in front of her. But there was a part of him which knew he should acquiesce, get this over with sooner rather than later.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he forced a smile, looking back to Tycho where he sat, stony look on his face as he re-soldered some of the boards for the control panel. “Tycho?” Virgil asked softly, drawing his gaze away from the board, a questioning look on his face. “You going to be alright for a bit?”

“What?” Tycho asked, distracted. “Oh, yes, I’ll be fine,” he forced a tight smile, his tone making Virgil a little uncomfortable.

“Okay,” Virgil said slowly, wishing he could just walk over and kiss him right now, take away any doubt, fear or other negative emotions that might be running wild in him. “We can finish our… discussion, later, if you want?”

Tycho shot him an unreadable look, nodding slowly.

“Yeah. I’ll find you,” he smiled, a little more relaxed.

“Great,” Virgil sighed. “Kayo, you ready to go?”

“Meet you down there,” she smiled, hopping back down through the hatch.

Virgil hesitated as he went to the cockpit lift, stilling and turning back to Tycho.

“Is everything alright?” he asked softly, not wanting to leave if Tycho was not okay.

The smaller man sighed, stopping mid solder and placing his tools on the ground.

“I hurt you,” he said flatly, standing up from his hunched position.

“You didn’t,” Virgil corrected him. “I hurt myself. Just got a little too… into it.”

“Yes, because of something _I_ started,” Tycho mumbled sadly. “I shouldn’t have pushed you, I shouldn’t have…”

Virgil frowned as he moved as fast as he could to Tycho, more mindful of his knee as he did so, the slimmer man watching the approach carefully.

He was caught off guard when Virgil reached him but didn’t stop, pressing him back against the frame of the control panel, pinning him in place. He dropped his crutches to the floor as his hands moved up Tycho’s body, running up his chest to his neck, drawing him in for a passionate kiss as he pinned him against the panel with his body weight, drawing a gasp from the inventor.

“Virgil,” he whispered as their lips collided, Virgil flicking his tongue out, tasting himself on his tongue.

“Fuck, I want you,” he hissed, pressing his hips against Tycho’s, wincing again as pain shot through his knee.

“You need to be careful,” Tycho whimpered against his lips, hands pushing Virgil upright. “Like you said, we can continue this later… just… we’ll take it slower.”

Virgil smiled against the wave of disappointment that washed over him, trying to keep the conversation light, even as Tycho frowned at him, concerned.

“I’m always careful,” Virgil winked. Tycho rolled his eyes.

“Just… you know what I mean,” he dismissed him, bending to grab his crutches from the ground and handing them to him. “I don’t want to hurt you, ever,” he said softly, his tone pleading. “If this means we have to slow this down, I’m more than happy to do so. I just…”

Virgil sighed, a content sound as he listened to Tycho.

“I appreciate your concern,” he murmured. “I really do. I’m just… I’m learning my limits again. And I know I need to be more careful. It’s just… not easy when I want you so badly and…”

Tycho cut him off with a soft kiss, hands fluttering up to his chest as they just enjoyed the moment.

Kayo clearing her throat behind them tore them out of their bubble.

“Uh, Virgil, are you coming?” she asked sweetly, a huge grin on her face.

Both Virgil and Tycho flushed red, embarrassed at being caught.

“Just coming,” he replied shortly, turning back to Tycho and pecking him on the cheek. “I’ll make this up to you later,” he promised, noting the shift in his face from flustered to lustful as he processed the words.

Tycho nodded shortly, watching Virgil as he moved to the lift and disappeared from sight as it lowered slowly, trying to ignore the tenting of his jeans once more as he played his words in his mind.

*-*-*

“So… who kissed who?” Kayo asked nonchalantly as Virgil pulled up the pod module screen. The question caught him off guard, causing him to stare at her, dumbfounded for a second. “You and Tycho,” she clarified. “Who kissed who?”

“I… He kissed me,” Virgil murmured, cheeks flushed as he looked back at the screen and scrolled through the module options.

“Really?” Kayo laughed. “I would _not_ have expected that. He seems too timid,” she mused, flicking through the adjacent screen, looking at all the different build templates.

Virgil huffed a bit.

“Okay, Kayo. I _know_ you didn’t want to get me in here just to show you how to use the modules.”

“You’re right, I didn’t,” Kayo smiled, a little dangerous as it always was. He watched, wary as she circled back on him, looking him up and down in a way that was almost predatory. “I’ve got some questions for you, Virgil,” she admitted, a sly smile on her face as she perched herself on one of the module arms, looking far too comfortable for the position she was in.

Virgil awkwardly sat down on the one of the raised edges of the pod floor, lowering himself down slowly with a sigh. Conversations with Kayo went one of two ways; her way or no way.

“Okay,” he conceded, placing his crutches on the floor gently, settling himself in. “What do you want to know?”

She beamed at him, glad he’d put up so little resistance. Virgil had always (secretly, of course), been one of her favourites. He was strong, dependable, _predictable_ , her mind supplied.

“Oh, you know, just every last little detail,” she grinned, pretending to check her nails.

“You really don’t,” Virgil smirked.

Kayo raised an eyebrow.

“That good already, huh?” she questioned, tone light.

Virgil almost nodded, his mind drifting back to the night before, how Tycho had felt around him as he’d slid all the way inside his body.

He caught himself in time, steeling his gaze and keeping a neutral smirk in place. His poker face was learned after many years training, and it took effort to maintain, but when he was good, he was _good_.

“Hmm,” Kayo mused, jumping down from the module arm, fingers resting on her chin as she dramatized her actions. “Just how serious is this?” she asked, tone still playful.

Virgil’s smile slipped a little but he held his nerve.

“Pretty serious,” he admitted. Some of Kayo’s friendly demeanour began to melt away, the twitch of her lips gone.

“Not just a one-night stand? A fling?”

Virgil’s façade slipped a little more.

“I…” he hesitated. This was not the way their playful, teasing discussions usually went. “No,” he responded finally, shaking his head. “No, it’s… we’re… together.”

Silence fell between them, both looking at each other as Kayo processed his words.

“And Scott knows?”

Virgil didn’t like the serious look on Kayo’s face, the playful smile replaced with a frown. His bodies background exhaustion from healing and fresh pain catching up with him wore his patience down as his poker face slipped away entirely, one of his hands rubbing over his face as he leant forward with a deep sigh.

“Look,” he began, running his hand up over his face and through his unstyled hair, his tone a little colder than he wanted it to be. “If you’re gonna join in with everyone else telling me how much of an idiot I am for daring to trust another human being with my emotions as well, firstly, get in line, because _fuck knows_ there’s a long one and secondly, when you do get to it, make it fast because I really don’t want to hear it.”

He sighed again, anger beginning to build in him.

Yes, Jason had fucked him up. He knew this. He remembered, quite well, how dark those times had seemed. How he’d felt like he’d never laugh again. How he’d dragged so many people down with him in his fight to stay afloat.

“Everyone thinks I’m just jumping into bed with the first person who bothers with me,” he said, a snarl in his voice that sounded alien coming from him. “Everyone thinks I’m a complete idiot who has no idea what he’s doing, treating me like I’m going _looking_ for that kind of hurt again.”

The rage he felt bubbled under the skin now, years of being coddled rising to the surface, the frustration he felt at not being trusted, at being treated like a lovesick teenager who didn’t know any better.

“I mean, do you all think I _want_ to get hurt? That I’d risk, not only my own health and wellbeing but the wellbeing and security of everyone here? Does everyone think that I’m just waiting for the next person to come along and _fuck me up_?”

Kayo, for her part, just stood and listened as Virgil’s ranting got into full swing.

“I’m not a masochist,” he growled. “I just wanted a damn bit of happiness, and what does everyone do? They do their usual, gossiping and sniping, spying on me,” he eyed her as he said it, “treating me like I’m some kind of idiot. I just… Tycho is…” Virgil was suddenly running out of steam as his thoughts turned to Tycho; his soft skin, softer demeanour, his smile, the way it lit up his face and made Virgil’s heart flutter.

“This isn’t bad,” he croaked, anger turning to sadness. “And I know everyone is scared. Fuck, _I’m_ _terrified_ ,” he admitted, swallowing past the growing lump in his throat. “But… I just… I want this to be okay. I want everyone to be _happy_ for me, not treat me like I don’t know what I’m doing, like I’m…”

He ran both of his hands through his hair, looking to the floor and blinking back tears.

“He treats me like a person,” he said, voice shaking, “not like Scott… not like everyone else does, like I’m made of glass, like speaking too loudly in front of me about anything to do with relationships or sex or attraction will shatter me, like talking about what happened will make the sky fall down. He respects me, he _wants_ me. And… I haven’t…” he looked up to Kayo, the sadness on his face causing her chest to tighten. “I haven’t felt that in so long.” He drew a hitched breath in, fighting back tears. “I haven’t _let_ myself feel that in so long. And he’s…”

Kayo drew a deep breath, moving forward to where Virgil was hunched over, sitting next to him on the raised floor of the pod and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, holding him in a gentle embrace as his tears finally spilled over, running tracks down his cheeks.

“I’m so scared,” Virgil admitted through his tears. “I’m so scared that any moment, he’s going to turn out to be not who he says he is,” he caught his breath a little, “I’m so scared he’s going to be the same.”

“But he’s not,” Kayo smiled softly, reassuring in her actions. “And you know it. He’s been through as much as you.”

Virgil lifted his head to look at her, mouth opening as if to say something before he thought better of it.

“I would ask how you know that,” he sniffed, “but I don’t think I really want to.”

Kayo shrugged, casual as ever as she leant back, placing her hands on the floor and leaning back on her arms.

“You honestly thought I wasn’t going to do a bit of digging?” she asked, a little surprised. “Not only was he in our home, but he was quite obviously smitten with you from the moment he laid eyes on you,” she chuckled softly. “And there was no _way_ I was letting him near you until I knew he wasn’t… a threat.”

Virgil smiled weakly, grateful for her concern but, as always, a little terrified of just how much Kayo knew about everyone they’d ever been in contact with. It was a _really_ good thing she was on their side.

“And…” she sighed, a sadness in her eyes that Virgil hadn’t seen before as she looked out over the empty cargo pod. “People are trash,” she surmised, shoulders slumping a little bit. “Honestly, some of the stuff I found when I was just searching for him in public forums... The way people talk about him like he’s just some kind of trophy. You know some journalist once pretended to date him for about six months _just_ to get a photo inside his house?” She made a disgusted noise. “And…” she hesitated. “There are… other things,” she admitted, drawing Virgil’s curiosity. “Things even I felt bad digging into.”

She sighed again, looking to Virgil.

“I’m not going to pretend I’m not worried for you,” she admitted, eyes fluttering to meet his. “We all are, and honestly, I don’t know how long it’s going to take before everyone relaxes into this and accepts it, but…” she bit her bottom lip, looking at Virgil, his eyes open, vulnerable as they ever were. “I think he needs stability from you as much as you need it from him. And… he’s… quite nice,” she blushed a little, not one for expressing the softer side of her emotions. “Plus he obviously cares about you.”

“I care about him,” Virgil responded softly, linking his hands together in his lap and looking down on them, thoughts of Tycho, memories of their encounters replaying in his mind. “Maybe more than I should be letting myself at this point, but… I don’t know how to explain it,” he admitted, surprised to feel contentment where he expected fear. “It just feels _right_ , like I’ve been waiting for this all my life. Like as soon as we met, a piece of me I never knew was missing had slotted into place. It’s… weird. But in a good way.”

Kayo smiled at him, a rush of affection for him warming her.

“That’s got to be a good sign though, right?”

“I hope so,” he smiled weakly. “I really do.”

“I’m not going to tell you how to live your life,” Kayo assured him, “no-one knows what’s better for you than you do. Everyone just worries about you. What you went through…”

Anger surged in her as she thought back to the day they had found out. Virgil had rounded on her, demanding to know if she knew. She was their head of security; she _should_ have known.

The fact she hadn’t, that he’d been so hurt, those they’d been so _close_ to being compromised on her watch ate away at her day after day, even now. She may not have shown it as much as Scott, but her level of paranoia when it came to Virgil, to all of them and who they chose to see, was comparable.

“If anyone ever did that to you again, I don’t think anyone here could guarantee they wouldn’t do something incredibly stupid and life changing.” She paused, feeling a sharp sting in her eyes for the first time in a long time. “We thought we lost you, Virgil,” she said, barely more than a whisper as she reached out her hand, placing it on his much larger one.

Virgil looked at her, his usual compassion and concern written over his face.

“We didn’t know if we’d ever get you back. Scott, he… He told me about…” she paused, wondering if she should go down this route. No, she decided. This was all part of Virgil’s journey, and they needed to be open with him. _He_ needed to be open if they ever wanted to recover. “He told me about the drugs. The drinking. How you… were.”

“He did?” Virgil raised an eyebrow, too tired to be angry. He wasn’t surprised Scott had finally broken and spilled what had happened, though he had to be glad it was to Kayo. She’d shown in the past how good she was keeping secret, to terrifying lengths.

Kayo nodded, expression solemn.

“I didn’t want to believe it, but… the way he spoke about it. We knew you were in a dark place, Virg, but we had no idea… You two shouldn’t have had to go through that alone.”

Virgil sighed, feeling a little numb. Scott seemed to have developed a habit of spilling his life out to people around him, but in this case, he just couldn’t be angry with him. He’d never asked to keep this a secret, the deal with alone. He just sort of… had.

“I didn’t… mean to,” he breathed, trying to keep his mind from drifting back too far. He didn’t remember a lot of what had gone on, which was terrifying in itself, but the parts he did remember, flashes of Scott’s face as he screamed in fear, pain in his head so severe he thought he was dying, the genuine wish to give himself over to nothing and end it all left him physically shaking. “I just… lost control. I wanted to get away, for everything to just _stop_. It was… I was so wrong to do that, to be so… so _selfish_.”

“Virgil,” Kayo tried to interrupt, but Virgil ignored her.

“I never meant to put all of this on him,” he admitted sadly. “I never meant to lose control. I just wanted to feel _something_.”

“After what you went through, it’s understandable,” Kayo reassured him. “No-one would blame you.”

“But it wasn’t _right_ ,” he choked, emotion creeping into his tone.

“No,” Kayo admitted. “It wasn’t. But it’s in the past. And trust me when I say, I know how difficult it is to leave things there,” she reached for his hand, gripping it tightly, bidding him to look at her. “But you _need_ to. Not only for your sanity, but if you want to move on, if you really want to make things work, with Tycho, with Scott, with _anyone_ , you need to let yourself heal.”

“How?” Virgil asked, voice far too calm for the situation. “How do I let go of this fear?”

Kayo sighed, moving to wrap Virgil in a hug, relishing the warmth that radiated from him as he embraced her. He was just so _damn warm_.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “You just go on living your life, and one day, it just… gets easier.”

Virgil scoffed a little, looking down on her as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“That’s it? And here’s me expecting some big regime on how to get better and all you’ve got is ‘just keep going’?”

Kayo smiled up at him, nuzzling against his chest.

“Hey, I don’t make the rules,” she grinned up at him, sighing as she squeezed him a little, her expression turning a little bittersweet.

“It’s hard. And it’s scary. But in the end, I can promise it will be worth it. It’s like waiting for a sunrise in winter. You see the light creeping over the horizon, and then…” she inhaled deeply, “when that first ray of sunshine hits you… it’s a new day and you know everything is going to be okay. That life goes on and the world keeps turning; that you can carry yourself and you can keep moving forward, no matter what has come before because you made it through the night.”

Virgil drew in a shaky sigh, processing her words.

“That was deep,” he admitted, feeling relief building inside him. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Kayo sighed. “I just hope it helps. I know it’s never easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

They sat together, Kayo wrapped around Virgil’s waist, just breathing and _okay_ for a couple of minutes.

“Are you going to let go of me?” Virgil asked after some time, wondering what Kayo was doing.

She shook her head, a grin on her lips.

“Nu-uh,” she replied in an almost petulant tone.

“Uh, why not?” Virgil asked a little concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kayo sighed, nuzzling into him a little more. “You’re really warm.”

Virgil laughed as he tried to wriggle away from her.

“Seriously? Go get your own radiator.”

“No,” she said, laughter in her voice.

“Kayo,” he warned, though there was no malice in it.

“You’ll have to fight me,” she mumbled into his chest. “And you’ll lose.”

Virgil sighed, accepting his fate, for the time being anyway.

“You know we love you, right?” she asked so quietly Virgil almost didn’t hear it.

“Of course I do,” he smiled. “Like any of you would ever let me forget it.”

“Just checking,” she grinned. “Now stop moving. I’m comfortable.”

Virgil sighed again, resigning himself to the situation. He lived here now. This was his life.

“I’ll let you go in a minute. Just… missed you,” Kayo admitted.

“Well I’m not going anywhere for some time now,” Virgil chuckled sadly. “What do you mean, anyway? We’re always hanging out.”

“Yeah, but never like this. Never just… You remember when we used to just sit on the patio and watch the stars? When we were younger?” she asked, tone holding a note of sadness.

Virgil nodded. He’d cherished those nights. Sometimes it was Alan, sometimes Kayo, sometimes more of them, but they would just sit outside on the deck chairs, looking up to the stars, telling each other stories of constellations, of launches, of journeys to distant worlds while the ocean lapped at the shore some way away, echoing into the night.

Life had been less complicated then. There had been no international rescue, no constant danger, no fear of a call coming in all hours of the day.

Everything had been so innocent, so simple when they were younger.

It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

“We should do that again sometime,” Kayo smiled weakly.

Virgil nodded, a strange sort of loneliness settling in his stomach; Kayo was right. They were all constantly around each other but they never seemed to be _with_ each other. Life was just too busy.

“I’d like that,” he smiled, hugging her tighter against him.

“Good,” she sighed happily.

Another few moments passed.

“Kayo, I need to pee,” Virgil admitted.

“No you don’t.”

“Want me to prove it?”

Her eyes flicked up to his face, a faux frown resting there.

“You’re disgusting.”

“Probably.”

With a sigh, she shifted back, standing up and offering her hand to him, which he gratefully accepted, pulling himself up and settling himself back on his crutches once he’d positioned them.

“But seriously,” she chuckled, “I’m happy for you. He really does seem nice.”

“He is,” Virgil re-iterated. “He’s… I feel like he’s good for me.”

“He’d better be,” her smiled dropped a little, face growing a little darker. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”

“Thank, Kayo,” he smiled, “I appreciate it.”

“You’d better,” she grinned at him. “Now I’d better go see Brains. There was some weird stuff going on with Shadow’s systems during the patrol, just want to run a systems check.”

“Nothing too bad I hope?” Virgil asked, concerned.

“No, just wondering if I had the same sensor glitch 1 did.”

“Oh, okay,” Virgil nodded thoughtfully. “He’s already looking into it. I’m sure he’d appreciate more data.”

“I’ll head over now,” she smiled softly, sighing as she looked Virgil up and down. “You should get some rest. And watch the leg.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, and Virgil?” she called as he turned to walk away. He looked back over his shoulder, noting the sly grin back on her face.

“Next time your boyfriend is sucking you off in your Thunderbird, make sure to close the hatch will you? Could hear you moaning from the other side of the hangar.”

Virgil went beetroot red as Kayo sauntered away with a huge grin on her face.

“Shit,” he mumbled, shuffling over to the lift.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's never been one to just sit by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be the last 'daily' update for a while. A lot of things going on, but I'm trying to keep it at least every other day. Still loving writing this, though it's taking all sorts of turns!
> 
> (Also think I might be uploading too fast for people to catch up! lol)
> 
> So, word of warning for the purists: I have taken EXTREME liberties with the layout of the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. I REFUSE to believe that there is no sleeping quarters inside, given that it's the 'long haul' vehicle. I picture them as being bunks built as part of the passageway to the pod access.
> 
> Please don't hate me too much!

Gordon had only just got Alan laid down on his bed, the smaller blonde curling into the foetal position, whimpering softly as exhaustion overtook him when the call alarm sounded, comm beeping incessantly.

“Gotta,” Alan murmured as he tried to sit up, only to find himself held down by Gordon’s strong hands.

“No, don’t you dare. You need to rest,” Gordon instructed, answering the comm.

“John, before you say anything, Alan’s not going,” he answered as John’s floating form flickered into being.

“Gordon? Is he okay?” John asked, concern laced through his voice.

“He’s exhausted. Been up for too long,” Gordon explained, hands firm against Alan as he protested underneath him. “He’s not fit to fly.”

“Shit,” John responded, the swearing out of character. It caught Gordon off guard.

“John? What’s happened?” John ignored him.

“Where’s Scott?”

“Answer me,” Gordon demanded, relived as Alan finally stopped struggling against him, relaxing back on his bed, accepting he wasn’t winning this one.

John sighed, a heavy sound.

“There’s an old abandoned oil pipe line in Russia that’s just been unearthed and burst open. Now it’s in flames,” he explained, distracted. “We _need_ Thunderbird 2 with firefighting capabilities. There are still over thirty people trapped at the site who were decommissioning it. I need Scott, now,” he finished, killing the comm.

“Fuck,” Gordon breathed, looking to Alan’s now dozing form beneath him, mumbling in his uneasy rest.

“Gordy… need to… go.”

“You need to rest,” Gordon instructed firmly, reaching down to pull the soft down blanket, crumpled at the end of Alan’s bed over his form as he curled into himself once more, unconsciousness finally overtaking him.

Gordon crept out of his room as quietly as possible, slipping the door shut before breaking into a sprint down the corridor and to the kitchen.

*-*-*

A blur of colour was all Virgil saw as he reached the lounge, minding his own business and moving carefully towards the sofa, intent on catching up on some re-runs while he had time when the rush of yellow and blonde screamed past him, nearly knocking him flying.

“Shit, shit, Virgil,” Gordon panted, screeching to a halt, panting for breath.

“Whoa, Gordon, what the hell?” he asked, fearful.

“W-Where’s, Scott,” Gordon panted, hunched over and leaning on his legs as he spoke, completely breathless.

“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted, shifting towards his brother, “why, what’s happened?”

“Emergency,” Gordon panted. “John called, oil in Russia, fire,” he coughed a little, trying to regain his composure.

“What?” Virgil asked, concerned. “John?” he turned towards his original destination, calling up the link to Thunderbird 5 from John’s portrait with his voice. “What’s going on?” he asked as John’s floating form fluttered into view.

“There’s an oil fire in Russia,” John explained quickly, a look of relief spreading across his face as he looked past Virgil to the stairs to the hangar behind him where Scott appeared, sprinting up from the lower level.

“John,” he panted, “got here as fast as I could. What’s the situation?”

John explained again, agitation in his voice.

“We really need Thunderbird 2,” John finished, a sense of urgency growing as he spoke. “Local agencies have exhausted all of their options. Without the low frequency fire suppression system and the foam cannons, all of those people stuck in the centre of this thing are done for. Their fire systems are holding the flames off but they’re about to go down with the back-up generator. We need to move, _now_.”

Scott nodded.

“I agree. Where’s Alan?”

“Resting,” Gordon explained. “He hasn’t slept in nearly 2 days. He’s not safe to fly.”

“Shit,” Scott’s fists clenched, not a good sign. “And Kayo?”

“Headed out on a systems check about five minutes ago, she just radioed in. She’ll head over as soon as she can.”

Scott frowned, considering his options, his own exhaustion clouding his mind.

“What about you?” he directed at Gordon.

Gordon’s eyes widened.

“I’m exhausted but…” he looked to his older brother, seeing his father’s gaze in the expectancy he found there. “I’ll be ok. I can go. But I can’t go on my own. It’s a two-man job.”

“And I need to be in 1,” Scott frowned. “What about Brains?”

“We need someone with Rescue experience,” Gordon insisted. “We can’t just throw him into that kind of situation.”

“Then we don’t have a choice,” Scott snarled, his lack of sleep muddling his judgement, his mind protesting his own words even as they spilled from his lips. “You’re going to have to handle this one on your own.”

Virgil felt anger rise up towards Scott, partially fuelled by words left unsaid from earlier.

“Scott, no,” he said firmly. “Gordon can’t do this alone.”

There was a flash of regret that crossed Scott’s gaze as he looked to Virgil for the first time since he’d entered the room. The regret was short lived, giving way to that trademark Tracy temper.

“So what do you suggest?” Scott snapped. “That we send Alan half asleep? Or maybe Grandma?” Virgil frowned at him.

“Scott, be reasonable,” he implored his older brother. “You’ll be sending him into a dangerous situation alone. He _needs_ back-up. This isn’t what dad would have done.”

“Dad’s not here!” Scott yelled. “Dad’s fucking dead and I’m the closest damn thing you’re going to get to leadership and I say Gordon goes alone. He can handle it.” He hissed the last words through gritted teeth.

“I can’t,” Gordon admitted, real fear in his voice, a rare occurrence. “Scott, I can’t do this.”

“You can and you will,” Scott snapped, taken aback at himself at how much, in that exact moment, he sounded like Jeff. “You’ll be fine. You can handle it.”

“Stop saying that!” Virgil cried, stepping forward, ignoring the searing pain that shot through his leg.

“I’m not taking orders from a cripple,” Scott barked. “Fuck off back to bed. You’ve already caused enough drama for one day.”

If Virgil’s leg hadn’t been in such a bad way, he would have launched himself at his brother and beaten seven shades of shit out of him. He had his mother’s long temper but Scott’s inability to be reasoned with hit a nerve.

Fuming _,_ he moved as quickly as he could out of the room, towards the hangar stairs.

“Where are you going?” Scott demanded.

“The fuck away from the person pretending to be our father,” Virgil retorted, trying not to look at Gordon as he watched him leave, a betrayed expression on his face.

“Go and get Thunderbird 2 ready, now,” Scott instructed Gordon, ignoring Virgil’s words even as they cut into him.

The blonde’s bottom lip quivered, fear pulsing through him.

“Scott,” he pleaded.

It wasn’t often that Gordon Tracy felt fear like this, the real, stabbing pain of a thousand pins and needles piercing his skin all over his body.

“Go!” Scott yelled, instant regret coursing through him at the terror on Gordon’s face seconds before he steeled himself, gave a short nod and headed down the hangar.

Drawing in a deep breath as he looked back on the lounge, towards his launch station, he jumped a little as he was confronted by John’s holographic form floating in front of him, a look of disgust on his face.

“You proud of yourself?” the younger man asked. Scott had never heard him talk in the tone he was using now.

“He can handle it,” Scott repeated, a little numbly.

“You keep telling yourself that,” John spat. “If anything happens to him under your watch, you’re fucking done.”

The comm line was cut and Scott was left alone, staring into space. As his eyes refocused, his gaze fell on the portraits behind where John had been; the smiling faces of his brothers.

“F-fuck,” he gasped, falling to his knees, exhaustion and guilt overwhelming him as he stared at Gordon’s portrait, the room around him turning hazy.

 

*-*-*-*

Tycho had just finished screwing in the last panel of Thunderbird 2’s control console when he heard the loading lift jerk into action, raising up into the cockpit.

Wearing a wary smile, he was pleasantly surprised to see Virgil stood on the lift as it docked, a harried look on his face.

“You’re back,” Tycho said dumbly, a smile sliding across his lips.

His smile faded quickly, however, when Virgil threw his left crutch to one side, the metal clanging as it hit the hull of 2, shuffling towards Tycho.

“You need to make a decision, right now,” Virgil panted at him as he hauled himself towards him on one crutch, surprising himself with the speed he was able to move at. “Things are about to get fucking real and I don’t want you in danger.”

Tycho was shocked, unsure how to react.

“What are you talking about?” he stammered, about to continue his line of questioning when the launch alarm sounded, making him jump. He looked to Virgil, slow realisation forming on his face.

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” he asked, aghast.

“It’s not what you think,” Virgil reassured him, ears twitching at the sound of the lift loader being called. The metal slab began to descend. Gordon would be here any second.

“Quick!” Virgil hissed, pulling Tycho backwards, towards the internal door, slipping through and closing it, moving them both into the sleeping quarters as quietly as he could, slipping in between the bunk sections. He pulled Tycho away from the windowed door as they heard the lift dock and footsteps heading away from them.

“You’re insane!” Tycho looked at Virgil with a mix of amazement and disbelief written on his face. “Are you seriously doing this?” he whispered.

“Like I said, it’s not what you think,” Virgil hissed back, leaning forward a little to chance a peek through the tiny porthole window in the cabin. “This is your chance. Let him know you’re here and he’ll let you get off,” Virgil implored him.

“And leave you to do… whatever the hell it is you’re doing?” Tycho said, tone stern. “Not on your life.”

It was that moment that Virgil realised the position they’d settled into was a bit more than intimate; Virgil’s body pressed tightly against Tycho in the space between the two bunks, their backs supported by the upper bunks structure.

They just stood, staring at each other, breathing heavily as there was a jolt of movement; Thunderbird 2 began moving down onto a module.

“I want to say something really stupid,” Virgil grinned apologetically, kissing Tycho hard, left hand wrapping around his neck and drawing him close. “But we better sit down before this gets _real_ bumpy,” he murmured against his lips.

Tycho nodded, breaking the kiss and ducking down into one of the lower bunks, settling himself in and bracing himself against the walls of the compartment as the sound of engines increased and their bodies shifted forward a little as the ship began to taxi onto the launch pad.

Virgil settled himself down carefully into the bunk opposite, bracing half of his body weight onto his remaining crutch, taking all of the weight off of his bad knee as he braced himself against the wall with his free hand, limiting his movement.

“So are you going to explain why we’re hiding in _your_ ship as it’s taking off?” Tycho hissed across the gap between them. Virgil put a finger to his own lips, shushing him.

“Gordon’s out there. He’s not flight safe and Scott sent him out _on his own_ to an oil fire.”

“What?” Tycho asked disbelieving.

“I’m not letting him go on his own,” Virgil whispered firmly, staring at the door as the ship came to a standstill. “Brace yourself!” he warned as the noise of the engines roared far behind them, the entire ship shifting as it was pushed into the sky, rattling them around a little bit.

“Ugh, this is weird,” Virgil complained, wishing he could be out in the cockpit, seeing what was going on. “Never been back here for take-off!”

“No shit,” Tycho hissed, still trying to process the situation. “So what now?” he asked, concerned. “You _do_ realise you’ve still got a seriously damaged knee, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Virgil rolled his eyes, relaxing a little as they levelled out in flight. “I’ve got a plan.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do, what do you think I am, an idiot?”

Tycho raised an eyebrow at him.

“You just snuck onto your own ship, hid in what I’m guessing is equivalent to the _bedroom_ and are planning to go on a rescue mission with a recently dislocated knee,” Tycho frowned. “I don’t need to think anything.”

“Hey!” Virgil retorted “What was I supposed to do? Let my little brother fly off to almost certain death on his own?”

“Don’t you think that’s a tad dramatic?”

“It’s a fire, fuelled by oil, in the middle of no-where with thirty people to rescue,” Virgil hissed. “On his _own_. No back-up, no fall back, _nothing_. We _never_ do this. Scott is… he’s wrong.” His shoulders slumped as he let everything out. “He shouldn’t have sent him alone.”

Tycho’s gaze turned sympathetic as he watched Virgil explain himself. He couldn’t bring himself to agree with this course of action, but he understood it.

“You just… need to be careful,” he urged him, reaching over to rest a hand on his good knee.

“I know,” Virgil murmured, looking at him fondly. “And you. You don’t go anywhere we don’t tell you to, okay? I’m not putting you in any danger.”

Tycho nodded fervently, only now considering the situation; this wasn’t a leisure flight. They were flying directly into an emergency. Into a danger zone.

Virgil suddenly chuckled lightly, drawing his attention away.

“What’s funny?” Tycho demanded, aghast at how he could be laughing in a situation like this.

Virgil’s eyes were sparkling when he turned back to face the door.

“You know what this is going to look like, don’t you?”

It took Tycho a second to process the words before a blush rose to his face, looking to the beds they were sat on.

“Oh, for fucks sake,” he rolled his eyes.

“I love it when you talk dirty,” Virgil teased.

“You will,” Tycho smiled, as if they weren’t about to go and basically hijack Thunderbird 2.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempted action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I suck at writing rescues.
> 
> So... guess who started back on anti-depressants yesterday!  
> Lot's going on in my life right now but I'm pressing on. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for continuing to comment and kudos this fic, it's a really nice distraction from *life*!
> 
> Loving all your feedback, ideas, opinions and thoughts about it.
> 
> <3

Gordon put the creaking behind him down to Thunderbird 2 settling into flight, not bothering to check as he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

His hands were shaking, fear coursing through him as he input the flight path, autopilot taking over for the next hour of so until he would arrive at his destination.

“I can do this,” he murmured to himself. He closed his eyes, fighting back tears and tiredness. “I can do this,” he repeated, wanting nothing more than to just curl up and cry.

He was thoroughly exhausted, the kind of tired that seeped into every muscle, every tendon, every bone in his body.

The comm flashed up, John trying to contact him.

He drew in a shuddering breath, steeling himself as he answered.

“Hey John.”

“Scott’s a moron.”

“He’s right,” Gordon defended his brother. “We can’t just leave them.”

“You can’t do this on your own,” John spoke softly, fear in his words.

Gordon gave a shaky sigh.

“I know,” he admitted. “But we have to try, right?”

“Not if it puts you in danger,” John replied, tone stern. “If it gets too much, I know it’s tough, but we need you back. We can’t lose you. _I_ can’t lose you.”

“I know, John,” Gordon sighed, knowing deep down in his heart that this would end one of two ways; with everyone safe or no-one. “I’ll be okay. Just going over the read-outs now. I’ll be in contact when I’m at the danger zone.”

“FAB,” John sighed, voice cracking a little as he spoke. “Be safe, Gordon.”

“Will do.”

The comm line dropped and Gordon slumped in his seat, wishing he could turn around and go home.

“I can’t do this,” he whispered to himself, mind in overdrive as he thought of John, of Alan, of Scott and of…

“Of course you can,” a voice sounded from behind him, making him jump in his seat. He swung round, adrenaline fuelling him as he let out a scream.

“Virgil? What the fuck!” he screeched, looking back to his brother as he moved on one crutch out from the crew compartment, closely followed by Tycho, both still dressed in civilian clothing. “Tycho? Oh, man, tell me you weren’t doing what I think you were…”

“We weren’t,” Virgil confirmed with a soft smile. “Just a couple of regular old stowaways.”

Gordon’s mind seemed to click into gear.

“Wait… you’re… Oh, no, no, no!” he frowned, genuinely angry. “Don’t you even _think_ about getting involved in this.”

“It’s a bit late for that,” Virgil smirked, rather taken with the situation. “Now out of my seat,” he demanded. “You’ve got to go and get the firefighting module ready.”

Gordon just stared at him.

“Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about?”

“You can’t fly and fight fires at the same time,” Virgil explained calmly. “I’ll take flight control while you get the module ready. Like you said to Scott, two-man job. Now there’s three of us,” he said, gesturing to Tycho who waved awkwardly, unsure what else to do.

Gordon frowned at his brother.

“You’re _injured_ ,” he pointed out. “You can’t take point on this!”

“I’m not,” Virgil insisted. “I’m just here to be your pilot. You’re in charge, you’ll be the one doing all the rescuing. We’re just here as back up, in case anything goes wrong.”

Gordon’s face suddenly dropped.

“Oh, god, Scott doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

“What do you think?” Virgil asked, moving forward and shooing Gordon away from the pilot’s chair, throwing his crutch behind him as he sat down, taking his usual position. A thrill of excitement ran through him as he sat in his chair, running his hands over the twitching control wheel as the auto-pilot carried them to their destination.

“Scott’s going to _kill_ you,” Gordon remarked, moving next to Tycho, shaking his head at his brother.

“Better me than you,” Virgil replied shortly, voice harsh. Gordon stared, getting the meaning behind it.

“I can’t believe you snuck onto your own goddamn ship,” the blonde smiled lightly. “So unlike you, breaking the rules, Virg.” He looked at Tycho with mock disapproval. “Honestly, what have you done to my brother?” he asked the inventor who had the good graces to look offended.

“Me?” he asked, confused.

“He was such a sweet, innocent boy until you came along,” Gordon teased, unable to hide the relief he had back up on such a dangerous mission, even if it was only token.

Tycho pursed his lips together.

“Pfft, that what he told you was it?” Virgil smirked from his seat, shooting Tycho an enamoured look.

“Quiet you,” he grinned, settling into his seat. “Now settle down, we’ve got a way to go before we arrive. It would be best to go through the readouts.”

“FAB,” Gordon grinned, settling down into the co-pilots seat, glancing over to his brother. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said softly, relieved. “Both of you,” he added, looking back to Tycho who moved to sit in the passenger seat behind Virgil, a nervous smile on his face. “Thank you.”

“You never have to thank me,” Virgil regarded his brother with a sad smile. “You know I’ve always got your back.”

“Can’t tell you how glad I am of that, even if you are an idiot about it.”

Virgil chuckled as he bought up the read outs, beginning to scroll through the information within.

*-*-*

It was another forty minutes before the proximity alarm beeped.

“We’re approaching the danger zone,” Virgil announced, getting back into the swing of things as he disabled the autopilot. “Gordon, you should go configure a pod for firefighting capability. ETA is five minutes.”

“I thought you weren’t taking the lead on this one?” Gordon asked with a faux petulant grin.

“Sorry,” Virgil smiled. “Old habits and all that.”

Gordon grinned as he opened the door to the pod behind him.

“Virgil… this was stupid but… seriously, thank you. For having my back,” he smiled, genuine affection in his eyes.

“Always,” Virgil replied, relief that they were here, that they could keep an eye on Gordon, that he accepted the help without resistance, washing over him.

As the pod connecting door shut, he noticed Tycho had unbuckled himself from his seat, now standing in the cockpit, a little awkwardly, arms wrapped around himself as he contemplated his next move, looking nervously at the seat next to Virgil.

“You can sit here, you know,” he offered, gesturing to the co-pilots chair next to him.

Tycho hesitantly sat in the chair, looking out of the ‘windscreen’ at the starry sky ahead of them, cloudless at their currently altitude. He was silent for a moment, drinking in the sight before turning to Virgil and looking him up and down as he began flicking the switches needed to begin their descent.

“What?” Virgil asked when he realised he was being stared at.

Tycho bit his bottom lip, hesitating for a moment.

“This is really fucking hot,” he admitted, bringing a blush to Virgil’s face. “I mean, you, in control, flying this beast… breaking the rules… fuck,” Tycho sighed. “What have you done to me, Virgil Tracy?”

Virgil grinned at Tycho, wishing he could reach over and kiss him. He refrained, knowing there would be plenty of time for that later.

“Only what you’ve wanted me to,” Virgil grinned, finishing the descent prep. “You might want to buckle in. We’re going to be diving back down now.”

Tycho nodded, reaching for the seat harness and securing himself to the seat.

“Gordon, we’re beginning our descent,” Virgil announced over the comm. “ETA two minutes.”

“FAB,” came Gordon’s response over the comm.

An angry orange signal suddenly flared up on the screen as Thunderbird 5 called down.

Virgil exchanged a hesitant look with Tycho as he stared at the comm channel, considering his options. He lifted his hand, ready to answer, turning to Tycho as he did.

“I ask you not to judge John on what you might witness,” he grimaced, answering the comm.

“Gordon,” John began, looking at readouts below him as he spoke. “You need to get the module ready. I can slave Thunderbird 2 to my command and…” His words stopped as he finally looked up, doing a double take at the face he saw there.

“ _Virgil_?” he breathed, unbelieving.

“Oh, hey John,” Virgil forced a smile. “Gordon’s already preparing the module for ground rescue. We’ve got control of the foam cannons from here and the low frequency system is ready to be deployed as soon as we’re on the ground,” he said nonchalantly, treating this like any other rescue.

John stared, dumbfounded, silent.

That made Virgil more uncomfortable than anything.

“Uh,” Virgil continued, a little taken aback. “We’ve located the people who need rescuing,” he continued, “their reserve battery is down to about fifteen minutes, so we’ve got to do this fast. But if all goes well, we’ll be on our way back in…”

“You absolute, total fucking, moronic, jumped up, amazing, _wonderful_ human being,” John blurted out, a smile splitting across his face. “ _Virgil_ ,” he breathed. “You are, the worst, the best, _fuck_ , I can’t _believe_ you. I’m so glad you’re there, you _total_ idiot.”

“Gee, thanks John,” Virgil breathed a relieved sigh. “Like I’m going to miss a party.”

“Talking of parties,” another voice came over the comm.

“Kayo?” Virgil questioned as her voice sounded.

“Forgot about me, did you?” she asked, the grin apparent in her voice as Thunderbird Shadow looped over the top of 2 and settled into its descent alongside the massive green machine. “Scott’s out of action. Found him in the lounge. And he’s fine, before you all start worrying. Just think we’re going to be having a _long_ conversation about sleep patterns when we get home.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Virgil smiled as he watched Shadow roll over the nose of 2. “Gordon’s going to need all the help he can get.”

“Agreed,” she said shortly. “Oh, and Virg?”

“Yeah Kayo?”

“You’re an idiot,” she stated, a smile in her voice. “Never change. And don’t you _dare_ get out of that cockpit, understood?”

“Yes m’am,” he smiled at the comm.

“Good. Same for you, Tycho. You stay with Virgil at all times. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

Tycho’s head snapped to the comm at the mention of his name, a little taken aback by having Kayo speak directly to him for what he supposed was the first time.

“Aye, I can do that,” he confirmed, smiling weakly at Virgil.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be lying as the tell-tale orange glow of fire began to light up the window surrounds of 2.

“Switching to VTOL,” Virgil announced automatically, “Firing landing jets.”

The noise of the engines intensified as the jets fired, the forward motion of the ship stopping and hovering above the landing site, beginning the downward movement needed to take them to the ground.

“Landing sequence initiated,” Virgil said calmly, hands flying to switches above his head before returning to the control column, pushing it away from himself in a long slow motion. “Contact in three, two…”

There was a soft bump as the huge ship made contact with the ground, setting in.

The orange light from the fire spilled in through the panes of glass at the front of the craft as it settled into position, illuminating their faces and casting long shadows behind them.

Tycho leaned forward, looking outside. He let out a soft gasp as he saw the size of the fire outside; it was bigger than anything he’d ever seen, and it was terrifying.

Virgil noticed him looking and reached across to offer his hand to the inventor, which he took without thinking. Virgil squeezed his hand with a soft smile as Tycho looked over to him.

“It’ll be okay,” he assured him. “We do this all the time.”

Turning back to the comm, he activated made the connection to Thunderbird 5.

“John, step one, how do we stop the oil from pumping?”

The tiny hologram of John flickered into existence, eyes cast downwards onto read-outs below him.

“There’s an emergency stop valve located 0.5 miles from your current location,” he explained quickly, bringing up a digital rending of the site, the valve highlighted by a marker. “The other side of the fire. Kayo, can you shut it down while Gordon clears the debris in the module so we can get these people out?”

“Only if we can get the flames down,” Kayo reasoned. “Shadow’s grasping arms should be enough to turn the valve cut off wheel, but I’ll never get close enough the way this is going.”

“Yeah, and I can’t start clearing anything until the flames closest are down,” Gordon chimed in, in his element now he had backup.

“Not a problem,” Virgil grinned, finally releasing Tycho’s hand and reaching up for the module control switches. “I’m raising her up now. Gordon, you get your module out and I’ll activate the low frequency suppression system.”

“FAB,” Gordon said. “Have I mentioned how glad I am you’re here? Because I don’t think I’ve said that enough,” he chuckled.

Virgil laughed softly as he pressed the module release system, Thunderbird 2 jolting back into action and raising up, over the pod.

“You can make it up to me by buying pizza for us when we get back,” he laughed.

“Oh, man, I am _so_ doing that. We haven’t had pizza in _forever_!” Gordon squealed.

“Uh, boys, focus?”

“Sorry, Kayo.”

Tycho couldn’t help but smile. Even in a situation like this, dire and life threatening, their easy going communication, how casual they were about jumping into danger, put his mind at ease.

Virgil shot him a reassuring smile as he flicked a few more switches in a familiar sequence.

“You might want to get ready,” he said softly, voice calmer than Tycho had ever heard him before. “The suppression unit is going to cause some _serious_ vibrations in here. Just so you’re aware.”

Tycho nodded, unsure what to say.

Virgil smiled fondly at him as he pressed the final switch.

Mechanical noises began to fill the cabin as the unit’s speakers unfolded themselves down the sides of the module and internal speakers folded down into position below the cabin.

“Deploying low frequency fire suppression unit in three… two… one.”

Tycho didn’t hear the noise the speakers emitted as much as he _felt_ it; a rumbling vibration, similar to standing too close to the hypertube track when it went past at full speed filled every part of his very being, his entire body feeling unstable as the frequency radiated from the module.

He watched on in amazement as the fire in front of them began to flicker out of existence, oxygen being stolen away via the sound waves being pumped at them. The tips of the flames curled and lashed, fighting to stay alight, failing as the fire fell.

“You guys have to go _now_ ,” Virgil instructed sharply. “We’re going to have to keep the frequency going as long as we can, but there’s no telling when a new fire might start. _Hurry._ ”

“FAB, I’m on it,” Kayo confirmed, Tycho watching as the silhouette of Thunderbird Shadow looped overhead before diving into the thick plume of smoke below.

“I’m moving in too,” Gordon replied quickly. “Going to clear away some of the debris so they can get out of the building.”

“FAB,” Virgil responded. “Once you’ve cleared the debris, we’ll fire the foam cannons on the two main leak points, see if we can’t put this baby out.”

Tycho looked at Virgil, a little confused.

“We?” he looked for clarification, feeling like his entire voice was trembling with the vibrations still resonating through him.

Virgil shot him an eager grin.

“Ever played those games at the carnival where you’ve got to shoot water into the clown’s mouth?” he asked.

Tycho’s eyes widened.

“You can’t be serious?” he asked, mouth agape. “I can’t… this is _your_ ship!” he protested.

“Which I’m going to need to be ready to launch at a second’s notice if things go south,” Virgil replied with a slight frown. “Hey, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it was dangerous, or if I didn’t think you could do it. Everything can be controlled from here. You’ll be right next to me the whole time.”

Tycho looked back at him, folding his arms.

“I’m still not happy about this,” he retorted, secretly exhilarated.

“Take it out on me later,” Virgil winked, earning him an eye-roll.

“You’re awful,” Tycho snorted.

“But you like it.”

“Maybe. A bit,” Tycho fought the smile the tried to creep across his lips. “Alright, fine. Show me where these damn canons are. Oh, and for the record, I _hate_ clowns.”

“Good to know,” Virgil grinned maniacally, beginning to walk Tycho through the remote control functions in front of him.

*-*-*

Kayo sighed in relief as the cut off wheel of the oil distribution pipe turned in Shadow’s grip, cutting off the flow.

“Gordon,” she activated her comm, “the oil flow has stopped. It should buy you some more time to…”

A loud hissing beneath her, echoing through the hull distracted her.

Eyes widening, she released the clamp and pulled back just in time as the pipe, now shut off, continued to build pressure, a crack appearing in it.

“Gordon!” she shouted, launching Shadow off of the pipe. “The oil is still pumping! The valve hasn’t stopped it!”

The creaking intensified as the crack grew larger, small spurts of oil, now under even more pressure began to leak in fountains from the pipe.

“Shit,” Gordon responded, his comm crackling a bit. “I’m going to go in, move as much as I can. We’ll have to rely on the suppression system to keep the flames down.”

“Is it going to be enough?” she asked sceptically, looking out of the cockpit to the smouldering flames below. The suppression unit was keeping them down but not putting them out.

“Maybe, if we can get the foam cannons to do their bit too, we can create enough of a space to rescue the people inside,” he reasoned, his voice strained as he moved the fire pod, shovel on the front shifting tonnes of debris with ease.

“That’s not enough,” Kayo thought aloud. “We need a way to put this fire out for good. If we can’t stop the oil, it’ll just keep burning.”

“What do you suggest?” he asked, frustrated.

The comm flashed up a second later, a direct link from the island. Brains appeared in tiny, hologram form.

“K-Kayo,” he greeted her, looking stressed. “John has been c-catching me up on the situation. This is b-bad,” he admitted.

“Tell me about it,” she sighed. “I’ve tried the shut off valve but it’s just caused a pressure build up. The whole thing is going to burst at any moment.”

“A-and when it does, it’s going to f-flood the whole area,” Brains replied, concerned.

“So what can we do to stop this?” she asked, eager to get to work.

“We need to c-cap the well, after the fire is out,” Brains mused, deep in thought. “Before…”

A rumbling like thunder cut him off, the sound shaking Shadow’s full as the pipe below finally burst, sending a gush of oil up into the sky, clipping the tail of Thunderbird Shadow and sending it into a spin.

“Blowout!” Kayo shouted, opening a wide frequency, drawing everyone’s attention. “We have a blowout! Thunderbird Shadow’s been hit; I’m trying to regain control.”

“Kayo! What’s going on?” Virgil’s concerned voice sounded across the comm.”

“The oil well’s blown out,” she gasped, wrestling with the control of Shadow, managing to get the ship back under control seconds before she collided with the ground, gaining altitude once she was stable. “One spark and we’ve got a tower of flame,” she cried. “Gordon, you need to get out of there, it’s not safe!”

Gordon looked out of the module window, spotting the flood of fresh oil creeping towards him.

“We can’t just leave the people in there!”  he protested. “There’s got to be something we can do!”

“Channel the oil away, divert it from the building using the debris. That way if it catches fire, you still have a safe space to pick up the people trapped inside,” Tycho’s voice came over the comm. “If you act quickly, you’ll create a large enough barrier it won’t affect their escape.”

“O-okay,” Gordon replied, a little taken aback at his involvement. “I can do that… I think.”

He moved the module into position, beginning to scoop the metal and concrete debris into a diversion channel.

*-*-*-*

“Show me how to activate the canons,” Tycho ordered to Virgil who raised an eyebrow, leaning over and bringing up the digital controls, sliding them in front of Tycho who nodded, determined. “Thanks. So, what’s your plan B?”

“Plan B?” Virgil asked, taken aback.

“Yes, in case this one doesn’t work?”

“Uh… I…”

Tycho looked at him, a little surprised.

“You don’t ever come into situations with a contingency plan?”

“Our job is more… reactive,” Virgil admitted, thinking about their options. “We have another module pod below, we can configure that one if we need to, and I can pilot it remotely from here. There’s…” he hesitated. “My fire-fighting exo-suit is below as well, but I’m not in any fit state to be using it. Gordon might…”

An explosion several hundred feet away drew their attention, a plume of flames rising up into the sky.

“Blowout is lit, I repeat, blow out is lit,” Kayo shouted over the comm. “We need those cannons, boys!”

Tycho grunted, pulling the control wheel of the cannon towards him, activating it.

“Hitting the actual plume will do nothing,” he reasoned. “We need to hit the source. If the valve is bust, there _must_ be another source nearby.”

“Tycho’s r-right,” Brains confirmed as his hologram flashed into the cabin. “The source of the well is the o-other side of the s-site. If we can c-cap that, the flow of oil will s-stop.”

“And how do we do that?” Kayo asked, impatient.

Tycho thought for a moment.

“Can I configure the other pod to carry firefighting foam? Nano-crete, anything?” he looked at Virgil, whose face immediately hardened.

“No,” he said sternly. “You are _not_ going out there.”

Tycho swallowed, defiant.

“We don’t have a choice,” he reasoned. “Gordon needs to clear the area. If you can operate the foam canons, I can…”

“No,” Virgil re-iterated. “It’s too dangerous, you can’t.”

“Virgil,” Gordon’s voice came over the comm. “Tycho’s right, we don’t have a choice. You can’t get down to the pod and…”

“He’s a civilian,” Virgil snapped. “We are not…”

Kayo’s voice joined in. “He can do this. Let him…”

“No!” Virgil shouted. “This is _not_ happening.”

“Tycho,” Kayo began, ignoring Virgil, “If you configure one of the pods with tracks, a scoop and the nano-crete tanks, you can take it over and seal the well off. There are fire resistant suits in the locker on the left side of the hangar, they’ll protect you from the heat.”

“If you c-can starve the fire of o-oxygen, the sealant will s-stop the flow of oil,” Brains confirmed, “t-that will make it safer for the evacuation.”

“For the last time, this is _not_ happening!” Virgil seethed, looking sternly at Tycho. “You’re not even meant to _be here_!”

“Neither are you!” Tycho shot back. “You dragged me into this and now I’m here, whether you like it or not, and I’m not going to let people get hurt while I sit here doing… nothing!” he gestured around him. “You have to trust me, Virgil,” he pleaded. “You have to believe I can do this!”

“I…” the words hit a nerve, silencing the pilot.

_“You have to trust me.”_

His eyes met Tycho’s, noting the fear, the fierce determination there. He was actually willing to do this; to put his life on the line, not only for people he barely knew, Virgil’s family, but for total strangers. It was a familiar look; one he’d seen in Alan not that long ago when he’d first started attending rescues.

Virgil sighed, knowing he couldn’t fight this.

“If anything, _anything_ gets too much, you get out of there, straight away,” he relented. “Keep an eye on the heat index, if it goes about 85, leave, _immediately_. It doesn’t matter if you’re done or not. Don’t… don’t put yourself in danger.”

Tycho nodded, swallowing hard, unsure where this new self-sacrificing determination had come from. Maybe it was spending so much time around them as an operation, maybe it had rubbed off on him. Whatever it was that had caused this surge of bravery within him, he couldn’t just sit by now.

Hesitating, he moved across to Virgil as he stood, kissing him softly on the lips, hands winding through his hair as he embraced him, Virgil’s hands moving to his back, clutching at his shirt.

They broke apart after a few seconds, just looking at each other, a soft smile on Tycho’s face.

“This is _not_ the kind of action I thought I’d be getting from you when I woke up today,” he admitted, pulling away and moving to the back of the cockpit, finding himself stopped by Virgil’s hand as it grabbed his own, dragging him back and bringing his hand up to his lips, placing a soft kiss there.

Their eyes met again, Virgil’s gaze full of fear and adoration as he whispered against the soft skin of Tycho’s hand before he let him go.

“Come back to me,” he murmured, taking a shuddering breath as Tycho went to the back of the cockpit and stood on the loading lift.

“Just try and stop me,” he smiled as the lift began to descend, heart leaping as the hot air from the fire rushed into the cockpit and over his body.

Virgil turned back to the control panel, turning off the suppression unit; it had done its job, the smaller fires leading to the building where the people inside were trapped now out, Gordon still busy diverting the oil spill as it slicked slowly towards them, fire spreading over the top of the liquid faster than he thought it would.

He bit his lip, fighting his fear, the feeling of uselessness and the urge to get on that lift and follow Tycho down, to stop him.

Fear was an old friend, but _this_ ; sending someone with no training into a situation like this… it was on a whole new level.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Further Disclaimer: I still suck at writing rescues.

Tycho’s eyes widened as the lift descended, the scene of utter devastation caused by the fire laid out in front of him as Gordon still frantically moved his pod back and forth, shovelling debris and soil in a desperate attempt to divert the flow of the burning liquid.

He reached the ground with a soft jolt, turning and looking into the open module behind him, quickly running up the ramp and moving to the pod assembly unit.

“Tracks, shovel bar…” he recalled what Kayo had told him, selecting them and scrolling through, looking for the nano-crete canons. “Come on, where are you?” he murmured to himself as he swiped the different combinations across, finally finding the tanks and pressing the selection.

Hesitating for a second as he double checked everything, he nodded to himself when he found it correct and pressed the assemble button, turning to watch as the module arms began building the pod, trying not to get swept up in the sheer _genius_ of it all as he remembered Kayo’s other advice, heading for the suit locker in the corner.

Something caught his eye as he opened the locker, dangling above him. He looked up, spotting the exo-suit, barely holding in an impressed whistle; the suit was _beautiful_ , designed to perfection, grabbing claws on one side, dextrous grip on the other, standalone power-pack, it had everything. His mind wandered for a brief moment, wondering if he’d ever get to see Virgil in action in it, wondering what it would be like to wear it.

“Focus,” he told himself sternly, reaching for a fire protection suit and beginning to pull it on over his clothing.

Once he’d fastened it all together, he looked back to the pod he’d built, taking a deep breath.

 _It’s not too late to turn back,_ he told himself, quickly shaking the thought away.

No. People were depending on him. He _needed_ to do this.

Steeling himself, he moved towards the pod entrance ladder and hauled himself inside. As soon as the cockpit closed, Virgil’s hologram flickered into the small space.

“The driving controls are standard,” he explained quickly. “Push, pull, brake, accelerate. I take it you know how to steer?” Tycho shot him a dirty look. “Okay, okay, just checking. The canons will work exactly the same way as the foam canons up here, just watch the flow. The nano-crete is much denser than the foam, so the stream will be slower to react to any directional or pressure changes. Oh, and try not to get any of it on the pod. Brains will kill you.”

“Thank you so much for your encouragement,” Tycho rolled his eyes, pressing the button to start the pod. It rumbled to life beneath him, sending a thrill of excitement and fear coursing back through him. He closed his eyes for a second and took a steadying breath.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Virgil asked softly over the comm, a look on his face like he wanted nothing more than to come get him.

Tycho shook his head.

“Of course I don’t want to,” he laughed softly. “But I’m not going to sit there doing nothing. It’s not right. It’s not what you’d do.”

“Don’t use me as a role model,” Virgil chuckled.

“Virgil…” Tycho began, words on his lips he had been fighting against for some time now, too much, too soon but desperate to be said. “I…”

“Guys, we _really_ need that fire capped, what’s going on?” Kayo’s strained voice sounded over the comm.

“On my way,” Tycho confirmed, pressing the control column of the pod towards him, the vehicle surging forward a bit faster than he expected. “Whoa, these things _move_!” he exclaimed, getting the hang of it quickly.

“Tell me about it!” Gordon laughed. “John, can you add the location of the well source to Tycho’s comm?”

“Already done,” John confirmed. Tycho looked to the red beacon now showing on his radar, guiding him to the well site as the pod rumbled along the cleared ground, soon approaching a pile of uncleared concrete and twisted metal debris.

He braced himself as he ran the pod to it, impressed when the tracks immediately found traction, pulling him up and over the pile with ease.

“I have _got_ to get one of these,” he giggled, enjoying it far too much for the given situation.

Laughter from the others rang in his ears as he made it over the large pile and headed towards the marker showing the well.

*-*-*

Gordon breathed a sigh of relief as the oil slicked down against the channel he had created, fire blazing on top of the liquid as it was successfully diverted away, back towards the pipe. He’d managed to create a u-shape while he cleared the path to the building.

“John, can you contact the people inside? The channel is as clear as we’re going to get it. We need to get them out now.”

“Their comms went down around ten minutes ago,” John replied, using the audio channel. “The backup generator must have finally died.”

“Then how are we going to get them out?” Virgil asked across the channel. “Can we use a sonic antenna?”

“According to my scan of the building, the walls are reinforced with a weather resistant lining which is dampening our communications,” John said, sounding a little frustrated. “We need to make contact but…”

“Then I’ll go out,” Gordon cut him off, “I can get as close as I can in the pod then enter the building on foot and get them.”

“That’s incredibly risky,” John countered, “but…”

“Can I move Thunderbird 2 any closer to help with the evac?” Virgil asked, leaning up to look out the window, frustration at his inability to move setting in.

“Negative,” Gordon replied sharply, the click of the pod cockpit opening sounding over the comm. “The channel isn’t wide enough. Once they’re out, we’ll just need to run for it.”

“FAB,” Virgil sighed. “Please be quick.”

“Aren’t I always?” Gordon grinned, faltering for a moment as he hit the ground having jumped down from the pod. “Wait… that didn’t come out right. Strike that from the record.”

“There’s no record, Gordon,” John sighed.

“That’s a relief,” he younger man chuckled. “I’m heading to the building now, I’ll let you know once I’m inside.”

“FAB.”

“Uh, guys,” Kayo called over the comm. “Does anyone have eyes on Tycho?”

Virgil’s heart jumped at the mention of his name.

“I’m fine,” Tycho’s shaky voice came over the comm. “Just encountered an… issue.”

“What kind of issue?” John asked.

Tycho took a deep breath as he looked out of his pod window to the sinkhole in front of him.

“The well base has sunk,” he explained quickly, “and the pipe is still attached. It needs to be detached from the source before I fill it with the nano-crete, or we’ll just end up with a bigger problem.”

“I can do that,” Kayo confirmed. “Stand by.”

She swung Shadow over to Tycho’s position, looking down to where his pod sat on the edge of the massive sinkhole.

“Alright, Tycho. Where do you need me to detach the pipe?” she asked as she surveyed.

Tycho opened the scanning system, bringing up a 3d model of the pipeline.

“There’s a section of the pipe about 16 feet to your left which is already compromised,” he thought aloud. “If you grab it, the rest of the pipe is stretched out and should fall back into the hole. Then I can bury this entire thing.”

“FAB,” she confirmed, diving down into position, using Shadow’s grasping claws to tear at the rusty pipe, the metal underneath beginning to give way.

“Just watch the pressure,” Tycho warned, watching from the pod. “Try and tear the entire section away at once or you might get caught by another blast.”

“Understood,” she nodded, adjusting her angle.

“Hey, good news, guys,” Gordon chimed over the comm. “I’ve located the trapped crew and we’re making our way up to the surface,” his voice crackled over the comm, the structure disrupting his connection. “We’re all coming up but we’ll be running across ten at a time until all thirty people here are out. It’s going to be a squeeze with both pods back in the module as well, but we should just about fit.”

“FAB, Gordon,” John confirmed his plan. “Just watch the oil from the blowout. If it gets any worse, you’ll be facing fire raining down.”

“Thanks for that, John,” Gordon jibed. “Exactly what I wanted to hear.”

“Tycho, I’ve got the pipe free,” Kayo cut across them. The pressure seems to be dropping but there’s a big leak over here now. One spark and the whole thing could ignite.”

“FAB,” he responded automatically, trying not to let out an excited giggle when he realised what he’d said, the thrill of being here, doing _this_ hitting him again. “The rest of the pipe is close enough that I can seal it off to. I’m going to start pumping the nano-crete in now.”

“Just t-take it slow,” Brains flashed up on the comm, “if this d-doesn’t work, we’ll want to keep some of the nano-crete in r-reserve.”

“Gotcha,” Tycho smiled reassuringly, bringing up the canon controls and beginning to pump.

The white foamy substance began to cover the pipe, solidifying almost as fast as it landed, building up layers which stemmed the flow of oil, the pipe crushed under its weight, sealing the well. He turned the canon to the hole, beginning to fill it in entirely, covering any other exit the oil might try to find.

“It’s working!” Tycho whooped, elated. “It’s actually working!”

“You thought it wouldn’t?” Virgil asked with a smile in his voice, watching as Gordon approached on foot, flanked by the first batch of people from the building, heading into the module.

“Well, you’ve got to have your doubts about everything,” Tycho mumbled, a little embarrassed. “Don’t set your expectations too high when science is concerned. Otherwise you’ll always end up disappointed.”

“Well, it’s worked and that’s all that matters,” Kayo replied, sounding relieved. “With the oil flow stemmed, it should be smooth sailing from here. Wait… what’s that noise?” she asked, looking around the view of her cockpit.

She was right; a rumbling noise, similar to the low frequency suppression vibrations that had rattled through them all was coming from below, the ground feeling unstable as it shook, noise like a thousand crickets chirping at once, just a low, loud hum.

“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted. “Brains? Tycho? Any ideas?”

“Oh, no,” Brains responded, fear resonating in his voice. “Capping the well has… there’s t-to much pressure!” he sounded panicked now. “It will keep building until it finds another exit p-point! You all need to g-get out of there, n-now, it c-could cause a cave in!”

“But what about the other people in the building?” Gordon shouted, beginning to sprint back, ignoring Brain’s warnings. “I’m not just leaving them there.”

“I’m done here,” Tycho responded, shutting down the cannons on his pod, satisfied with the thick lay or nano-crete. “I’ll head back and help with the evacuation.”

“No, the pods will just slow us down, we can’t ferry that many people backwards and forwards in them. It’s faster to run on foot,” Gordon replied, panting for breath between words. “Just head back to the module and get inside.”

“Got it,” Tycho complied, not wanting to argue with the professionals. “I’m heading back now.”

“See you in a second,” Virgil smiled, relief washing over him.

“I’ll keep an eye out for any more blowouts or signs the ground is giving way from up here,” Kayo said, voice sounding even more strained than before. “But we need to move quickly.”

“Hey, I was an Olympic _swimmer_ , not a sprinter, I’m doing my best,” Gordon panted as he reached the building, opening the doors and beckoning everyone out. “I’m going to take everyone across at once. We can’t afford to wait any more,” he reasoned, looking back towards Thunderbird 2 as Tycho’s pod rolled back up to the module.

A small smile crossed his face. Tycho was back, Kayo was still in one piece, and with getting the last of the evacuees on board, everyone would be safe and they would be out within minutes. Even if they couldn’t put the fire out entirely, considering how this had started, it hadn’t gone nearly as bad as it could have done.

A shudder ran through him as he thought of the prospect of having to do this alone. He really did need to make good on his pizza promise to Virgil.

His thoughts of pizza were cut short by a loud rumbling from the ground beneath him, tell-tale cracks beginning to appear around his feet.

“Oh, shit!” he shouted, bracing to run. “The oil’s found its weak point! The building is collapsing!”

“Gordon, get out of there, now!” Virgil practically screamed, leaning forward a bit too fast, trying to get a better view of what was happening in the distance. Pain shot through his leg.

“John!” he cried, “John, what’s happening?”

“I don’t know, I’m trying to get a visual,” he responded, tone harried as he tried for reading after reading of the site.

Tycho turned to look on in horror as Gordon ran from the building, the ground behind him collapsing, swallowing the entire structure.

“No!” he whispered to himself, eyes wide, struggling to process the scene as Gordon’s body slipped out of view, into the hole.

“Gordon!” Kayo screamed, Shadow looping around above, trying to get a view of where he was. “Shit, John, I can’t see him!” She sounded hysterical for the first time in any of their memories.

“I’m… okay,” Gordon’s voice crackled over the comm, strained. “I’m stuck,” he whimpered. “Ow. Something… I think I’m trapped.”

“Gordon, wait there, I’m coming to get you,” Virgil shouted, reaching for his crutch behind him.

“Virgil, you can’t!” John protested. “You’ll never make it in time.”

“My exo suit should support my knee,” he argued. “I could…”

Movement in the distance caught his eye.

“Tycho, where are you?” he asked, a new fear rushing through him.

*-*-*

The moment Tycho had watched Gordon disappear into the expanding crater, he’d leapt into action, ejecting himself from the pod and running into the module, past all of the terrified people, freshly rescued who were watching the scene with looks of horror, reeling from seeing their rescuer swallowed up by the ground along with the building they had been in mere moments before.

He’d gone straight to the exo-suit module, trying to focus through the amazement of how well it calibrated itself to his body, fitting tightly against him. After a couple of staggering steps, he’d adjusted to the motion and taken off in a sprint, too full of adrenaline and fear to fully process exactly how amazing the suit was, his steps feather light as he bounded across the cleared channel faster than he could ever have dreamed of doing on his own.

“Tycho,” Virgil repeated. “Please tell me that’s not you.”

“I’m only borrowing it,” Tycho tried to lighten the mood, to ignore the fear in Virgil’s voice. “I promise not to scratch it.”

“Damn, your boyfriend is a badass, Virg,” Kayo laughed shakily over the comm.

Virgil ignored her, watching the speck in the distance that was Tycho as he ground to a halt in front of the hole.

“Gordon!” he shouted down. “Where are you?”

“Ow, don’t shout,” Gordon’s comm activated in his ear. “I’m still on the line.”

“Sorry,” Tycho mumbled apologetically. “I can’t see you. How deep did you end up?”

“Isn’t that a question,” Gordon gave a breathy laugh, making a pained noise. “Fuck, my arms are trapped,” he admitted. “Feels like shit.”

“I’m coming to get you,” Tycho reassured him. “Have you got lights on your suit that you can reach?”

“Hang on,” Gordon grunted, trying to move. “Fuck, it’s no use. My arms are totally pinned.”

“I can triangulate his position using his comm signal. Standby,” John instructed in his ear, a visual beacon appearing on Tycho’s helmet interior, pinpointing where Gordon was. The schematic moved down, showing him about 9 feet in the rubble below.

Tycho looked down, swallowing hard. It was still about a six foot drop down.

“Uh, guys, new problem,” Kayo said, voice frantic. “The oil, you know, the ON FIRE oil is heading your way. That hole is going to be a hot tub soon. You need to hurry.”

Her words spurred Tycho into action. He jumped down into the hole without a second thought, landing hard but unharmed and on his feet.

“Hang on, Gordon. I’m digging down to you now,” he reassured him.

“Please hurry,” Gordon responded, uncharacteristic fear in his voice.

Tycho gripped a large piece of concrete in front of him, lifting it away with ease with the vice like claws of the suit, throwing it to the side like it was a piece of paper. He refocused, pulling more and more of the rubble away, creating a large hole as he cleared it.

A particularly large piece blocked his path, all exposed steel beams and fracture concrete. Bracing himself on his back leg, he gripped the slab with both of the suits claws, lifting the huge piece away and pushing it over, the piece shattering as it fell over.

He looked down, seeing where moving the slab had exposed a large cavity in the rubble, a flash of blue catching his eye.

“Gordon!”

“Well hey there,” he replied, as cheery as he could manage, shifting a bit. “I need you to come down to me, both of my arms are pinned.”

“I’m going to drop in,” Tycho confirmed. Then we can work our way out.”

The tell-tale crackle of fire caught his attention over the far side of the pit, terror striking him in the heart as he watched the slow drip of firey oil reach the rim and begin to drop down.

“Can you move at all?” Tycho asked, beginning to panic a little. Gordon flexed his arms, straining against the weight of the rubble for a moment.

“No, I’m pinned,” he repeated, exhaling deeply. “Please hurry!”

Tycho steeled himself, moving a few of the large pieces of rubble surrounding the hole he’d uncovered before lowering himself down, moving to stand over Gordon.

“I need you to stay still,” he instructed, hands shaking as he began a hazardous game of pick-up-sticks, removing smaller pieces of rubble in an effort to free up Gordon’s arms.

“Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?” Gordon asked shifting to try and look around, the action freeing his left arm as Tycho removed the last bit of concrete on top of it.

Gordon stretched his arm out, examining it for any visible damage as Tycho looked over to the growing light behind him.

The light of the fire where is dripped with the oil behind them was getting brighter, closer and hotter, seeping across the rubble.

“What?” Gordon asked, turning to look where Tycho was staring, fear in his eyes as he began to struggle against the rubble pinning him in place. “Oh, shit!” he exclaimed, beginning to panic, the trapped feeling overtaking his usually calm demeanour. “Fuck, please, get me out!”

“Gordon, try to stay calm,” Tycho instructed him, though his own heart was racing, sweat pouring down his face. “We’re getting out of here.”

He redoubled his efforts, tearing away at the rubble pinning Gordon down, light surrounding them as the oil began spilling in from all sides of the pit.

It wasn’t long before enough rock was shifted that Gordon felt some give, able to wriggle his right arm free. He hissed in pain as he tried to stretch it, finding it catching a little, definite injury to the muscles noticeable as he moved.

He fought through the pain, shifting and pushing the rocks and dust which had settled over his lap away, standing up and looking to Tycho.

“Thanks,” he croaked, chest still heaving. “Now we need to get out of here.”

“Agreed,” Tycho nodded, pointing upwards with one of his mechanical arms. “You first, climb onto the suit, use it to get up top.”

Gordon nodded, doing as he was instructed as Tycho gave him a boost, using the claws as a platform and pushing him up through the hole he’d uncovered. Gordon reached down his hand as soon as he was up.

“Come on, quick!” he urged Tycho, looking around them as the oil began to slick faster into the hole, sweat now pouring down his face as the temperature around them rose. His gaze flashed momentarily to the corner of his helmet readouts; the heat index was at 92.

Using the arms of the suit, Tycho hauled himself up, scrabbling for purchase as he reached the top, grateful for Gordon’s hands grabbing his suit as he stumbled a little once he’d climbed out, nearly toppling back into the hole.

“Thanks,” he gasped, standing upright.

“Don’t mention it,” Gordon panted back, relief written over his face. “Now how do we get out?” he asked, looking around the pit, all edges now a waterfall of oil and fire, trapping them.

“Guys, I need to move Thunderbird 2, the ground is unstable, it’s giving way!” Virgil shouted over the comm.

“FAB, Virgil,” John responded. “Get in the air. We’ll figure something out.”

“What about us?” Gordon asked, frantic as the glow of fire surrounded them, the bottom of their boots beginning to stick a little as they melted on the concrete beneath them.

“You guys need a lift?” Kayo asked quickly, moving Shadow to hover over them, extending the ships grasping claws to them.

“Hell yes,” Gordon grinned, grabbing onto one of the legs and gesturing for Tycho to do the same.

The oil beneath them began to bubble up under the slab of concrete they’d been stood on as Shadow took off with them hanging onto the claws, overwhelming the spot within seconds.

Gordon let out a sudden cry, the pain in his arm searing through him, compromising his grip.

He let out a scream as he lost hold of the claw, beginning to fall.

Tycho reacted on instinct, grabbing for him with the smaller claw of the suit, reaching down as he watched his body slip away, managing, at the last second, to grab onto Gordon’s arm, holding him firm as he dangled precariously over the oil filled pit.

Grunting from the stretch of his body within the suit, Tycho shifted his arm up, pulling Gordon back up enough that he could grab back onto the suit, pulling himself up onto it. He finally got a foothold back on the suit’s frame, Tycho releasing his arm and allowing him to grasp on.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned by Gordon’s silence as the blonde nodded, breathing heavy as he looped his good arm around the suit, clinging on tight.

“That was close,” Tycho gasped, looking to Gordon as their surroundings rushed past, the orange blur of fire out of control now, unstoppable. “This is crazy. They’re going to have to wait for it to burn out. I don’t think anything can put this out.”

“Yeah,” Gordon nodded slowly, exhausted, breathing sill heavy. “Tell me about it.” He hesitated for a second, looking to Tycho who had turned his gaze to look over the mass destruction below them.

“Hey,” he began, drawing the inventor’s attention. “Thanks for having my back,” the blonde forced a smile, giving him an odd look. “You didn’t have to come for me. This isn’t what you do. You didn’t have to put yourself in danger. That was… really close,” he admitted.

“I wasn’t going to leave you,” Tycho responded, a little aghast. “You’ve just saved all those people; I couldn’t let you… You’re a hero. Besides, it was rather exciting.”

Gordon smiled softly, looking thoroughly exhausted now as he relaxed a little, the life or death situation passed.

“I bet,” he chuckled. “But seriously, thank you,” he repeated, unable to find better words to express his gratitude. “You’re invited to the pizza party.”

“What an honour,” Tycho grinned, an odd sort of tiredness sweeping over him too, one that sank deep into his bones.

“Virgil, want to open your top hatch? I’ve got a special delivery,” Kayo smiled softly, matching speed with Thunderbird 2 as it cruised through the air. Virgil didn’t respond but the hatch did open. Kayo carefully lined up Shadow’s claws with the hatch, dipping in just enough to allow Gordon and Tycho to drop in, landing with a loud ‘thunk’ and the sharp sound of metal on metal as the exo-suit made contact with the cockpit.

“GDF forces are waiting for you in the capital,” John announced over the radio. “Well done everyone. That was close but… well done.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, bro,” Gordon smiled, tired as he looked to Tycho, struggling to get out of the exo-suit and pushed the release button for him, the suit releasing and folding into its compacted state behind him with a loud clank.

“Thanks,” he smiled, moving to sit down in the chair behind Virgil, drawing in a deep breath.

“Bad news guys,” Kayo came over the comm. “The oil has reached the pods. It’s… not pretty. I don’t think we’ll be getting them back.”

“Damn it,” John’s voice cut in. “Brains is _not_ going to be happy.”

“Is he ever?” Gordon chuckled. “At least we got out okay. This was never going to be easy.”

“Fair point,” John smiled. “I’ll break the bad news. You guys just relax. And well done. All of you.”

The comm line dropped, silence settling over the cabin for a moment.

“Holy shit,” Gordon breathed, collapsing in the co-pilots chair, clutching his injured arm. “Can we go home now?”

Virgil looked to him with a tight smile on his lips.

“Once we drop everyone off at the rendezvous point, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he replied softly, tone measured, even. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

“Me too,” Gordon grinned. “Wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for Tycho, though. He really saved my bacon. I’d be crispier than grandma’s pastries if he hadn’t come for me.”

Tycho blushed behind him.

“It was nothing,” he swatted his hand in the air, waving the praise away. Gordon turned to him, aghast.

“Seriously? You saved my _life_. You…”

“Gordon, can you go check everyone is okay in the pod?” Virgil asked, a little flatly, cutting him off. Gordon shot him an odd look, glancing between Virgil and Tycho, realisation crossing his face.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he forced a smile. “I’ll get everyone ready for transfer to the GDF.”

He stood up, testing his arm, still finding it a bit stiff.

“Virg,” he called as he moved past Tycho with a smile, heading for the module compartment. “Go easy.”

Virgil grunted in response, waiting for Gordon to close the door as he disappeared down into the pod before he switched the controls to autopilot and turned in his chair, facing Tycho who regarded him with a tired smile.

“That was _fucking_ stupid,” he snapped, wiping the smile from Tycho’s lips. “What the _hell_ were you thinking?”

Tycho frowned.

“That your brother was about to die and that I could help,” he retorted, folding his arms across his chest. “I wasn’t about to leave him.”

“I told you not to put yourself in danger,” Virgil responded, furious. “I told you to come straight back, to not take any risks, and you… you…”

He ran out of steam as he regarded the inventor, eyes stinging as he processed everything that had happened, the weight of the situation settling.

“C’mere,” he beckoned, waving Tycho over.

The smaller man stood slowly, taking off his helmet and placing it on his seat before moving to Virgil’s seat, letting out a soft cry of surprise as Virgil grabbed him, pulling him onto his lap and wrapping his hands around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

The position was somewhat awkward as their lips met, Tycho’s body twisting a little as he moved to get a bit more comfortable, wary of Virgil’s knee as he did so, trying to take as much of his weight as he could. Once he was sure he wouldn’t hurt him, Tycho melted into the embrace, wrapping his arms around Virgil’s neck, kissing back, flicking his tongue against the pilot’s lips, drawing a soft sigh from him.

“Thank you,” Virgil whispered against his lips, breaking their kiss and burying his face in Tycho’s neck. “If you hadn’t… thank you.”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Tycho whispered, stroking a hand through Virgil’s hair, using his other hand to pull him close. “Everything’s ok,” he said, trying to convince both himself and Virgil. His heart was still thundering in his chest, every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire and there was an unfamiliar tiredness seeping into his very bones which made him just want to curl up in Virgil’s lap and fall asleep.

“I felt so useless,” Virgil admitted, snuffling a little bit as he nuzzled Tycho’s neck, sending pleasurable shivers down the slimmer man’s spine. “I thought I was going to lose you both, the fire was so close, I…”

Tycho silenced him with another kiss, moaning as Virgil’s hands tightened their grip on his body, pulling him closer, his desire becoming clear.

Virgil pulled back suddenly, panting for breath, eyes dark with lust.

“We’re going straight to bed when we get in,” he half growled, pulling Tycho close to him. “And I’m going to show you how grateful I am. No arguments,” he kissed Tycho again as he went to say something. “I need… I need to have you,” Virgil breathed, kissing his lips gently. “I need to hold you.”

Tycho nodded in agreement, clutching at Virgil, bringing their lips together again.

A familiar need thrummed through him as he kissed Virgil like his life depended on it, so caught up in each other they didn’t hear the door behind them open as Gordon climbed back through.

He regarded the scene in front of him, the two of them in an embrace with a disgusted fondness for a moment before he cleared his throat loudly, the noise making them both jump a little as they broke apart, turning to look at him, their faces flushed.

“You two need to get a room,” he said with a wicked grin. “Honestly, there are kids around.”

“What kids?” Virgil asked, holding Tycho on his lap even as he struggled to get away.

“ _I’m_ a kid,” Gordon clarified. “And I don’t need to see my brother getting it on in front of me. Save it until we’re back on the island, okay? Do it in front of Scott or something, now _that_ would be funny.”

“Shut up,” Virgil replied fondly, finally letting Tycho go. The slimmer man jumped up, straightening his clothes before moving back to the seat behind Virgil, settling himself down once more, hands folded in his lap.

“I’m kidding,” Gordon reassured him as he sat down. “But really, I _don’t_ want to see you guys getting it on. I didn’t even need that mental image, but here we are.”

“Don’t act like you’re not going to go and tell Alan about all this the second you get back home,” Virgil rolled his eyes, looking to the read out in front of him, trying to focus again as Tycho sat behind him with a small grin on his face, embarrassed but so _glad_ that Gordon was accepting this, _them_.

“What can I say?” Gordon shrugged as he moved forward, brushing a hand over Tycho’s shoulder in a friendly manner before he sat back in the co-pilot’s seat, putting his feet up on the console with his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m a gossipy bitch.”

“That you are,” Virgil agreed, glaring at him. “Feet off the console.”

“But I’m _tired_ ,” Gordon whined, giving him puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t _care_ ,” Virgil mocked his tone, giving him a sly smirk.

“I hate you,” Gordon huffed, pulling his feet down dramatically and huffing a deep breath, sulking.

“Likewise,” Virgil grinned,

A comfortable silence descended over the three of them as they made their approach to the rendezvous point.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return home isn't always easy

“Virgil!” Sally breathed, launching herself towards him as soon as the loading lift set down on the hangar floor.

She’d been waiting for them to arrive back as soon as John had told her they were on their way home, pacing the hangar for over thirty minutes, concern coursing through her. He’d given her brief details, how Virgil had snuck on board, how Tycho had been with him, how they’d all worked together to save the people trapped; how Tycho had saved Gordon’s life…

“Hey Grandma,” Virgil greeted her, tired but cheery, wariness in the way he looked at her, waiting for her next move.

She wrapped him up on a hug, holding him close for a moment before moving back, looking at him dressed in his civilian clothing, perched on one crutch, tiredness written over his face.

Cupping his face, she looked him over, checking for injuries.

“You crazy, stupid boy,” she chastised him. “What you did was so dangerous, you could have been killed!”

“Pretty much my every day,” Virgil shrugged, smiling in the face of her disapproval as she shook her head at him, releasing him and turning to face Tycho.

“And _you_ ,” she rounded on him. Tycho flinched, shrinking into himself a little. “You saved our Gordon,” she said softly, embracing Tycho in a tight hug. “You saved our boy. You saved so many people,” she continued, emotion cracking her voice as she pulled away to arm’s length, looking Tycho in the eye. “We are so proud of you.”

An odd warmth filled Tycho’s chest as he embraced her back, mumbling his thanks.

“I couldn’t just sit by,” he murmured, looking to his feet as she pulled back, hands on his shoulders, beaming a him.

“You did amazing,” she reassured him. “The boys wouldn’t have made it without you. You really earned your place with us today. You’re practically an honorary Thunderbird.”

“Thank you,” Tycho fought a grin, trying to remain serious and stoic, to ignore the giddy feeling coursing through him.

“Where’s Scott?” Gordon asked as he emerged from the module, towelling off his hair, having grabbed a shower on the flight back.

“Come here, you,” Sally beckoned him over, wrapping him up in a hug as well. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Me too, Grandma,” Gordon chuckled, embracing her back. “But seriously,” he frowned as he pulled back, “where is he?”

Sally bit her lip.

“I don’t want any of you to panic,” she said calmly. “He went to Alan’s room after you left and…”

“He _what_?” Gordon growled, furious, pushing past her and breaking into a sprint, heading up the stairs.

“Gordon, wait!” Sally shouted, barely audible as Gordon took the stairs two at a time, fury beating back his exhaustion as he ran up and up, past the lounge and up to the bedrooms, arriving at Alan’s door in record time.

He pushed the door open a little too fast, the wooden panel slamming open, light spilling into the room, over the bed where Alan lay, still asleep with Scott at the end of the bed, draped over his legs, dried tear tracks staining his cheeks as he clutched at his baby brother, both snoring lightly.

Gordon breathed a sigh of relief, heart still hammering from the sprint up.

He felt a surge of anger rise up in him as he looked at Scott, but he pushed it down, reasoning with himself; this could wait. They both needed rest.

 _‘And so do I_ ’, he thought to himself as he began to sway on the spot a little, exhaustion now the only thing he could focus on.

Shutting the door as quietly as he could, he stumbled backwards as the reality of how thoroughly tired he was washed over his entire body. He felt his centre of gravity shift and an awful, empty feeling as his body began to fall, only to bump into someone behind him with a loud ‘oof’, falling into their arms as if in a trust fall.

“Are you okay?” Tycho asked, looking to the blonde man now in his arms as he stared blankly up at him. “Sally sent me up after you.”

“I…”

“Which room’s yours?”

“Last on… the right,” Gordon managed, blinking hard. He was taken aback by how much of a crash he was now experiencing with the adrenaline rapidly fading from his system.

“Can you walk?”

“I… think so… let me check,” Gordon said slowly, placing his left foot forward, taking a stumbling step, grasping onto Tycho’s arms tightly enough that the taller man winced.

“Come on,” he urged Gordon forward, “let’s get you to bed. Goodness knows you need it.”

“Uh huh,” was all Gordon could manage as he poured all his focus on dragging his feet, one in front of the other until finally, after what seemed like an hour to him, but in reality was only a few seconds, they arrived at his bedroom door.

He looked at Tycho gratefully, feeling an odd swell of emotion in his chest.

“You saved me,” Gordon mumbled, emotions suddenly rising up to his throat, catching there as a lump formed. Tears began to sting at his eyes as he stared at the inventor intently. “You could have left me to die but you saved me.”

“Nobody was going to leave you to die, Gordon, don’t be silly.”

“I’m not,” Gordon retorted, voice hitching as tears began to spill down his cheeks. “I thought I was going to die. The building fell and I thought that was it. Every time we go out, I think I’m going to die.” He stared at the ground for a moment before his gaze shot back up to Tycho, eyes wide and hazy. “I don’t know what I’d do if one of us…” he caught his breath. “I don’t want to... I don’t want my brothers to…”

“That’s enough,” Tycho frowned. “Nobody is going to die, not today. You need to go to sleep.”

Gordon regarded him with an implacable look, just staring for a moment, processing, his sleep deprived mind churning.

“Virgil likes you,” he blurted out finally. “He kissed you and everything.”

“Yes, I know, I was there,” Tycho rolled his eyes, pushing at Gordon’s shoulders trying to get him into his room.

“No, you don’t get it!” Gordon protested. “Virgil doesn’t like anyone like that anymore. Not since…” Gordon paused, staring off into space for a moment, remembering terrible things. “I wanted to kill him. Jason,” he clarified. “I wanted to hurt him and watch him die for what he did to us.”

Tycho held his breath, unsure if he should press this. He had heard bits and pieces, but felt dirty in his need to ask, to _know_ what happened.

“We thought he was never going to recover,” Gordon admitted, chest heaving with sobs as he spoke now. “I’ve never seen him cry like that, I’ve never…” he paused again as his body shuddered.

“That’s enough,” Tycho said firmly, reaching behind him to open the door, intent on pushing him inside. “You need to…”

He was caught off guard as Gordon grabbed the front of his t-shirt ( _Virgil’s t-shirt_ , his mind supplied) and spun him around, slamming him against the bedroom door, pressing right up against him with a twisted snarl on his face.

Tycho felt the panic rise up in him, frozen, unsure of what to do.

“If you hurt him,” Gordon growled, “I’ll kill you. I mean it. I’ll kill you.”

“G-Gordon,” Tycho stammered, hands going up to the smaller man’s, trying to pry them off him.

“Gordon!” an angry yell came from behind them, Virgil approaching as fast as he could, wincing on his bad knee as he struggled along on one crutch. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Let him go!”

Jumping as if electrocuted, Gordon released Tycho, jumping back and staring at him, the anger that had been in his eyes moments before replaced with a child-like fear.

“I-I’m sorry!” he sobbed, crouching down and curling in on himself. “I… I don’t know why…”

“Are you okay?” Virgil asked Tycho, ignoring his brother as the inventor huddled against Gordon’s door, a raw terror in his eyes that shocked Virgil to his core.

“I… Yes,” Tycho swallowed hard. “I need to… I need to… to get out, I… need to...”

“Go to my room,” Virgil instructed him, gesturing across the hall. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Tycho shot off like a flash, at his door within second, entering the room and slamming the door behind him.

Virgil rounded on his brother, his usual calm façade gone, menacing in his anger.

“You _ever_ lay a finger on him again, you’ll regret it,” he snarled at his brother, anger fading a little as Gordon remained curled in on himself, panting. “Why, Gordo?” he asked softly now, reaching down a hand to his little brother, the instinctive urge to _protect_ rising up in him.

“I don’t know,” Gordon sobbed, fingers clutching at his face. “I just… I want to go home.”

“We are home,” Virgil reassured him. “You need to get some sleep and in the morning, you’ll see. You’re safe. We’re all safe. Now come on, you need to rest.”

He reached down his free arm, looping his hand under Gordon’s uninjured arm and pulling him to his feet, releasing his grip once he was sure Gordon would be stable on his own for a couple of seconds before reaching to his door and ushering him inside.

“You get some sleep, okay?” he instructed softly, pushing him towards the bed.

“I’m sorry,” Gordon mumbled, turning to face him. “Tell Tycho I’m sorry. I don’t want anyone to die, or get hurt, I don’t want it anymore,” he sobbed, tears now flowing freely down his face.

Virgil regarded him with a sigh, shuffling closer to him and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Everything’s okay,” he reassured him as Gordon’s arms wound around him, clutching at him. “Everyone is safe. And you need to go to sleep. I promise everything will look better in the morning, okay?” He pulled back, looking to Gordon who nodded furiously, shaking all over.

“I love you,” he mumbled. “You keep me safe, all the time, even when you shouldn’t.”

“You’re my brother. I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”

“Thanks Virg. I… I think I need to sleep.”

Virgil nodded, beginning to back out of the room.

“Goodnight, Gordon.”

“Night, Virg,” he replied, sitting slowly on the bed, hands over his face as he processed everything. Virgil sighed as he closed the bedroom door, turning to move back into the hallway.

The twist of the action sent a huge shot of pain through his knee. It was all he could do to stop himself from screaming, instead gritting his teeth and hissing loudly, taking weight on his crutch and readjusting his good leg to take the pressure off.

He winced as he took a step, grunting in pain, putting all of his weight on his good leg. A flash of regret at not picking up his other crutch passed his mind; he’d thought he could manage with one. Perhaps he’d been wrong.

But for the moment, he was stuck, panting as pain coursed through him, fading gradually but there nonetheless.

A click down the hall drew his attention; his bedroom door crept open and Tycho appeared, now barefoot and shirtless, looking around for a moment before focusing on him where he leant on his crutch, pain written over his face.

Tycho drew in a sharp gasp before heading straight towards him, looping an arm around his shoulders when he reached him and guiding him forward, to his room.

“Just twisted a little bit,” Virgil explained through gritted teeth.

“Well what did you do that for?” Tycho smiled weakly, noticeably shaking as they reached Virgil’s room, Tycho helping him over to the (still unmade) bed before turning back and closing the door behind them.

Virgil winced as he kicked off his shoes before gingerly lifting his leg up onto the bed, stretching it out as far as he could, drawing in a gasp when he felt a sharp ‘pop’ inside the knee.

“Fuck,” he hissed.

“What? Are you okay?” Tycho moved to sit on the bed, looking at his injured leg with concern.

“Yeah,” Virgil breathed, testing the knee. “Actually… something just popped and now…” he bent his knee upwards gingerly, drawing his knee closer to his body. It was still tight, still a little painful, but it felt more comfortable, as if something had shifted. “It feels okay,” he reassured Tycho. “Just need to be more careful.”

“Yeah, no more stowing away aboard ships for rescues,” Tycho smiled.

Virgil chuckled softly.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that again for a while,” he grimaced as he lowered his leg back down flat onto the bed. “C’mere,” he gestured to Tycho, beckoning him to lay beside him as he shifted over carefully.

Tycho obliged, laying down on the bed, immediately snuggling up to Virgil, sighing as the larger man draped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him close.

He shifted, laying his head on the pilot’s firm chest, closing his eyes and relaxing into his touch as he threw him arm over Virgil’s stomach, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat.

“Sorry my brothers are such dicks sometimes,” Virgil said softly, his hand finding Tycho’s back and rubbing small, smoothing circles into it. “You don’t seem to be having much luck with seeing them at their best. They’re not usually… well, Gordon isn’t usually like this.”

Tycho nodded thoughtfully, moving his hand up to Virgil’s shoulder, holding him.

“’S okay,” he murmured, the deep tiredness he felt creeping over him as he snuggled closer to Virgil, taking in his warmth. He was like a furnace; hot, comfortable and soothing. “They’re going through a lot.”

“Doesn’t make the way they’re acting towards you right,” Virgil frowned, pulling Tycho closer. “You deserve better.”

“Well I’m sure Gordon will give me extra pizza to say sorry, so that’s a bonus,” Tycho smiled, looking up to Virgil.

The larger man gave a small grin in return, dipping his head down to kiss him, a soft, slow meeting of lips with no real hunger behind it, only affection. As they broke apart, Tycho let out a sigh.

“I’m so tired,” he yawned. “Today was… interesting.”

“You did so well,” Virgil tightened his grip on him. “You really did. You saved Gordon’s life. If you hadn’t have been there…”

“Well I was,” Tycho cut him off, leaning up to peck him on the lips, silencing him. “And everyone is okay.”

Virgil sighed, wishing he had the strength to pull him on top of him, to kiss him breathless and fuck him senseless.

“We should get some rest,” he conceded, kissing Tycho’s forehead. “But tomorrow…” He tightened his grip on Tycho’s, back, pulling him against him, his tongue dipping out to wet his lips, “we are _not_ leaving this room. I’m going to kiss you until you forget the taste of everything except me.” He flicked his ear against the shell of Tycho’s ear. “Then I’m going to fuck you until you forget everything except what I feel like buried inside you.”

Tycho shuddered, a shot of arousal running through him. He let out a whimper, clutching at Virgil, wishing he had the energy to make that happen right now.

Virgil sensed his urgency, grip on him relaxing a little, returning to rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“Not now,” he instructed. “Get some sleep. You need it.”

“I need you,” Tycho insisted, pressing his body harder against Virgil, who smiled softly.

“Me too,” he admitted, “but we’re in no state to do anything right now. Sleep. In the morning we’ll get cleaned up and then I’ll show you how much you mean to me.”

Tycho swallowed hard, nodding.

Words rested on the tip of his tongue, ones he had wanted to say for days now, but it was far too soon, far too fast, likely to drive the other man away. But _oh, god_ , he felt them.

He felt them inside his chest, hammering against his ribcage, wanting to be released, to let him know, to tell him…

“Goodnight,” Tycho croaked, fighting the urge to confess to the larger man.

Virgil smiled down on him, leaning down to give him another soft kiss on the lips before he settled back into his pillows with a sigh.

“Goodnight,” he returned, eyes drooping closed.

Tycho relaxed into his embrace and shut his eyes, Virgil’s words playing through his head as he drifted into a deep sleep, dreams full of kisses, bare skin and Virgil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a bit short guys, story is coming along well but work, kids, etc make writing all the time a little difficult!
> 
> Can't wait to get back to longer chapters!  
> x


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alan finally gets his own chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, sorry for the long break between updates!
> 
> My dear son decided to pour water all over my laptop and it's sadly been a disaster! Managed to get my hard drive out, but the story had been saved locally and has been lost, including the four chapters I'd written ready for upload so I'm having to start again!
> 
> I'm back up on the new laptop now, so sorry if things are a bit choppy and short for the moment while I play catch up!
> 
> Just wanted to get something small out to keep you going!
> 
> Thanks for your patience! x

Alan woke with a start, blinking heavy sleep from his eyes.

_The alarm! There had been an alarm, right? A rescue?_

Head still hazy from sleep, he shifted, sitting upright, listening.

Nope, no alarm. But… He looked down to his legs, attention draw by a soft snoring; Scott was sprawled out on the end of his bed, arm thrown over Alan’s knees, face twisted in what looked to be fear.

His older brother mumbled in his sleep, hands closing on the blanket in his grasp. Alan’s chest tightened a little. Why was he here? Had something happened? Was everyone okay?

“Scott?” he asked softly, pulling his legs out from underneath his brother’s grip. “Scott?”

The older man shifted in his sleep, rubbing his face into the sheets as he adjusted to the loss of contact.

“Gordon… I didn’t…” he murmured, expression a mix of emotions as he curled into himself, still sound asleep.

Alan let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding as he watched him move. Once he’d realised he wasn’t waking up any time soon, he carefully shifted himself out from under the covers, shivering at the change of temperature as he got out of bed, padding towards the bathroom door.

He closed it as quietly as he could, the lights flickering on as he moved. He yawned and stretched, wincing at the popping noises coming from his joints all over his body as he did so, wondering how long he’d been asleep for. His hair was totally out of control, sticking up at all angles, he noted as he looked in the mirror.

It had been a long while since he’d felt as well rested as he did now. He vaguely remembered Gordon forcing him into bed, telling him to sleep. The past couple of days had been a real strain.

Remembering Gordon’s name being uttered by Scott, another flash of cold fear ran through him; he had to be alright… Gordon was tough, nothing would have happened to him, right?

He physically shivered at the thought, shaking it away. He needed to get washed, dressed and up, to find someone and find out what had happened. _Especially_ the washed part, he noted to himself, still dressed in his flight suit from yesterday and smelling, as Gordon would put it, of _hard work_.

Turning on the shower, he sighed, looking at himself once more in the mirror, blue eyes staring back at him so similar to Scott’s now. As he grew, and his features settled, he began to realise how much he and his eldest brother shared similar physical traits, and it made him proud. He loved Scott; he was his role model, always so sure and confident.

But recently, they’d all noticed a change, a shift in his behaviour, and it worried him.

He shook his head, turning back to the shower and beginning to strip down. That train of thought could wait until he was a little more awake. Thinking hard while half asleep and on an empty, now grumbling stomach had never been his strong point.

*-*-*-*

Feeling fresher and more awake after his shower, Alan pulled on some clean-ish clothes (having only worn them for about five minutes after waking up before getting called out on a rescue) that had found their way to his bathroom floor and crept back through the bedroom, his eyes cast over Scott who was still deep in uneasy sleep as he moved towards the door.

He felt a pang of sympathy for his brother; whatever had driven him here was obviously still playing on his mind, even in his sleep.

Scott rarely came to see Alan any more. When they were younger, he was an almost constant fixture in his room, cuddling him, telling him stories, singing to him when he was scared. But that had been when they were very young. Even though there were 11 years between them, there had been a time when Scott had been his closest friend, constantly there, protecting him, guiding him.

Part of that may have had something to do with the favouritism Jeff had shown; it was no secret that, while he loved all of his sons, Alan had gotten preferential treatment since he was born.

His brothers put it down to how much he looked like their mother, especially after her death.

From that point on, Scott had stopped spending as much time around him, choosing instead to deal with his grief in isolation, and Gordon had stepped forward, filling the void left by him and becoming Alan’s new puzzle piece, the two constantly together.

Alan sighed as he thought over all of this.

He missed Scott, he couldn’t deny that. He was his hero, always so sure of himself, so brave, willing and able to make tough decisions, to face the consequences of his actions if things went wrong, to see things through to the end.

There were times, like now, when Alan realized just how much difference 11 years could make.

As he watched his brother grab onto the blanket tighter, curling into himself more, being tormented by his dreams, Alan felt so _young_ , so innocent. He didn’t have those bad dreams yet, the ones of failed rescues. His brothers had worked hard to protect him from all of the worst parts of rescues, from the bodies claimed by disasters, from the anger people in distress would often direct at them if things didn’t go according to plan.

While it frustrated him, he was also grateful, though that feeling came with its own guilt. He was twenty this year, and he often wondered when his brothers would stop trying to protect him from all of the awful things they had to endure, or if they ever would.

He wasn’t sure which option he would prefer, if he was honest with himself. After seeing the others some nights, Virgil silently sat at the window, contemplating, Scott overworking himself in the gym by the hangar, trying to beat out all the rage, Gordon sobbing into his knees as he curled up inside Thunderbird 4’s module, Kayo disappearing on hikes out on the island and John, not contacting them except to update on emergencies, isolating himself further, he didn’t know how he would cope, himself. He’d always been upbeat, always seeing the good in situations.

The fact that they couldn’t save everyone, that they couldn’t always reach people in time, that the original event which necessitated their presence often cause such a loss of life was not something he knew, but as of yet had not had to face.

A shiver ran through him; this was not a train of thought he was comfortable with, and although it was part of his life, he never knew if he would be.

Shaking his head, trying to physically dispel the thoughts, he threw one last look back at his big brother and slipped out of his bedroom and into the hallway, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could, leaving Scott to sleep.

If there was one thing he could respect it was everyone’s need for sleep when they could grab it, regardless of where they fell asleep.

He made his way down the hallway, bare feet padding against the wooden floor, descending past the lounge and down to the kitchen, noting the silence that had descended on the house.

That silence did nothing to help him shake the sense of dread that had settled in his stomach, worry that something awful had happened creeping through him.

He was more than relieved when he caught sight of Sally sat at the kitchen table, poking at a jam filled bagel with her elbows resting on the table. Her figure was hunched, even more so as she let out a tired sigh, staring out the window in front of her to the ocean that protected their island, the sun just beginning to crest over the horizon.

“Morning, Grandma,” he chirped as he approached the table, happy to see someone else awake.

She jumped a little, caught off guard, but as soon as her eyes settled on him, her face broke into a welcoming smile.

“Morning, Alan,” she greeted him, eyes tired as she looked him up and down. “Sorry Scotty got into your room, I tried to stop him but he was…” she looked back out to the ocean with another deep sigh, “he was kind of out of it last night.”

“Eh, that’s okay,” Alan shrugged. “He didn’t wake me up, he’s still sleeping in there. Thought I would leave him to rest. I know I needed it!” He stretched his arms above his head, joints still clicking as they got used to the movement again.

“Well I’m glad you got some rest,” Sally smiled softly, looking back down at her bagel. “There are more of these in the oven warming up,” she offered, “and don’t worry,” she reassured him as he opened his mouth to protest, “I didn’t make them.”

“Oh, cool!” Alan grinned at her, his stomach feeling odd from being empty for so long, rumbling at the thought of food. He quickly moved to the oven, carefully grabbing a bagel out and began rummaging through the cupboard above, looking for his favourite chocolate spread.

“So how long was I asleep for?” he asked as he busied himself.

Sally looked at the time digital clock on the wall.

“Well Gordon took you up about two thirty-ish yesterday so… about fifteen hours,” she smiled. Alan spun round, shocked, almost dropping the jar he’d just found in the cupboard.

“ _Fifteen hours_?” he repeated, mouth agape. “But… why did you let me sleep that long? What if I needed to go on a rescue?” His heart dropped as Sally’s expression darkened a little. “Oh man, I missed a rescue, didn’t I?”

Sally sighed, nodding slowly.

“Get your breakfast and come sit down. I’ll explain.”

Alan nodded, going a triple speed through the rest of his bagel prep, throwing the knife he’d just used carelessly in the sink with a clatter.

“Dishwasher please, young man,” Sally chastised him.

Alan huffed, putting his bagel on the side and sulking back over to the sink, gingerly picking up the chocolate covered knife and placing it in the dishwasher, closing the door with a loud bang and grabbing his breakfast, heading straight over to the table.

He dragged out a chair and collapsed in to it, looking at Sally expectantly as he began to tear into his bagel.

“Sho, what did I mish?” he asked, mouth full.

“Alan, that’s disgusting. Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”

“Shorry,” he replied, swallowing his mouthful. “Sorry, again. So what happened?” he asked again, eyes wide, waiting.

Sally drew in a deep breath, letting it out with another long sigh, thinking of where to begin.

“Virgil snuck on board Thunderbird 2 yesterday to help with an oil fire in Russia,” she closed her eyes. “After Scott tried to send Gordon on his own.”

Alan paused, mid bite, chewing fast and swallowing, mouth agape again after he had finished.

“Woah,” he said, mouth dry. “I… they should have woken me up. Wow.”

“And Tycho was with them. He…” she hesitated, not wanting to make Alan feel guilty. “Everyone’s okay,” she reassured him, “but, Tycho had to drive one of the pods. He… Gordon got into a tight spot and Tycho got him out.”

“Tycho drove one of our pods?” Alan repeated, eyes wide. “Wow, I bet Scott was _pissed_.”

“Scott wasn’t there,” she admitted with a sigh. “Apparently there was some kind of argument before they left, which is why Virgil and Tycho ended up on board. Scott was… I found him in the lounge. I…” she sighed. “I haven’t seen him this conflicted since your dad…” She paused, tears welling in her eyes. Everything from yesterday had built up, emotions bottled up as she’d tried to process everything, sleep evading her as she’d laid awake until forcing herself up, trying to find some kind of solace in their home.

“He’s really that bad?” Alan asked, shifting closer to Sally.

She nodded sadly, looking at Alan with a sad smile.

“He’s… trying to be like your dad. Trying to be all things to all people, and he… he just can’t. He’s running himself into the ground… I… I want to help him I just… I don’t know how,” she sniffed, tears spilling over onto her cheeks, a sob escaping her as she bought her hands up to her face, finally overwhelmed.

Alan was taken aback; Sally was usually their voice of reason, the stable rock of their existence, always firm but kind, guiding them, supporting them.

To see her like this was odd and scary to him. He felt an ounce of his childhood slip away, seeing the tears she usually reserved for private time away from the boys, her concern so real and raw like this.

Shifting closer, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, unsure what else to do. Sally leaned into him, letting go and sobbing fully now, control gone. One of her hands came up to rest on Alan’s hand where it rested on her shoulder, gripping it.

Alan felt the tight, wrinkled skin against his own, realising now just how old Sally looked now. She was eighty next year, but it had never been something he’d given much thought to; she’d been around his entire life, always there in one way or another, always full of life and vitality, spurring them on to adventures and successes. But here she was, signs of age showing as she clutched at his hand, leaning on his chest, finally broken in front of him.

He wondered for a moment if she had ever been like this in front of any of his brothers, if she had ever let her guard down like this before.

Unsure what to do, he just sat, holding her as she cried, unsure how much time had passed before her sobs turned back to sharp breaths and she relaxed her grip on his hand and sat up, using her free hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Alan,” she sniffed, removing her hand from his and pulling away to look at him. “I can usually cope with you boys and everything that goes on, but seeing you all like this, at the moment, seeing Scott… I wish it was easier. I wish your dad had chosen an easier like for you all. I’m so sorry,” she looked down at her hands as she rested them in her lap. “I’m so sorry.”

“Grandma,” he breathed. “It’s okay, really.” He moved his hand back, resting on her shoulder. “I…” Words failed him for a moment as he drew a deep breath. “It’s not fair,” he admitted. “Sometimes, I wish we didn’t have to do this, always waiting for the next person who needs our help, not always getting enough sleep, seeing some of the things we do, but… I get to fly a rocket! I get to help people, it’s great!” he reassured her with an enthusiastic smile. “It’s all I dreamed of when I was young, to go into space and to make a difference, and yeah, it’s hard, but I get to live my dream, every day, with my brothers. It’s so cool! I…” He ran out of steam as Sally looked up at him, a small smile on her lips.

“I am so, so proud of you,” she said, reaching a hand to him which he took gladly. “I will say it until I’m blue in the face, but I am so proud of all of you. Everything you do, you really make a difference.”

“It’s what dad would have wanted,” Alan said with a soft smile. “We make sure that no-one has to go through what he went through, what we all went through. We keep people together. And that means more than anything else I ever could have done.”

Fresh tears sprung in Sally’s eyes, but these were from a very different feeling.

“I love you, so much,” she croaked, squeezing his hand.

“We love you too, Grandma,” he smiled, his youthful enthusiasm making her feel at ease for the first time in a long time. “And we appreciate everything you do. Even the bad cookies.”

“Are they really that bad?” she smiled.

Alan grimaced a little.

“Kinda, yeah,” he admitted with a sheepish laugh, pulling his hand away from hers and rubbing it over the back of his head.

Sally smiled knowingly and leant towards him conspiratorially.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just love baking. I know I’m terrible.”

“Well that carrot cake you made for Kayo’s birthday last year wasn’t bad,” he offered with an awkward smile.

“I bought that from the mainland,” she laughed. “I just never bothered to correct everyone when they thought I’d made it!”

“Grandma!” Alan laughed, “How could you?”

“Like I said, terrible,” she laughed, feeling relieved. “Thank you, Alan. You are a dear. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this morning without you.”

“Aw, Grandma,” he grinned softly, warmed by her words. “I’m glad I could help. I just wish I knew the right thing to say.”

“You do, Al. Even if you don’t know it. You have that gift.”

He blushed a little, content. His rumbling stomach cut through the tender moment like a blunt knife.

“Eh, looks like my stomach is a little jealous of the attention,” he chuckled.

Sally smiled fondly at him, ruffling his hair as she went to stand up.

“You finish your breakfast,” she instructed him. “I think I’m going to go back to bed. If anyone needs me, you know where I’ll be.”

“Okay, Grandma,” he smiled, tearing into his bagel once more. “Have a good night.”

“I told you before don’t talk with your mouth full!” she chastised him as she pushed her chair back in.

“Shorry.”

“Alan!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I'll be doing a bit of extra smut soon to make up for the long break ;)


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning sex is the best :)
> 
> [Graphic depictions of sexual activity] aka the smut I promised :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, please accept this humble offering of smut as apologies for the delay between chapters.
> 
> Working hard to catch up!
> 
> We will return to our regularly scheduled tears and drama momentarily :)

Virgil was drawn out of his deep sleep by movement next to him, a persistent, rhythmic motion and skin rubbing gently against his.

He was about to turn over and go back to sleep, the blissful feeling of interrupted dreams calling to him once more when a soft moan drew his attention back to the movement that had woken him.

He blinked his eyes open and turned his gaze to his left side, finding Tycho next to him, eyes closed and bottom lip drawn into his mouth by his teeth as he tried to stifle his moans.  
Gaze travelling south, Virgil saw his strong arm moving against him, muscles flexing as his hand, wrapped around his cock, jerked himself in a steady rhythm.

“Well, good morning to you too,” Virgil murmured, arousal shooting through him as he watched the other man fisting his cock.

Tycho gasped, eyes shooting open as he noticed Virgil, now awake and observing him.

“F-fuck, I’m sorry,” he breathed, not stopping his motion.

“You should have woken me up,” Virgil purred, shifting his body carefully onto his side, watching Tycho’s face as it twisted in pleasure again.

“I didn’t want to, to wake you, you… fuck, you looked so peaceful, ah!” Tycho moaned, arching his back a little.

Virgil’s cock was almost hard already, just listening to Tycho’s moans as he jerked himself off. He acted quickly, sitting up to divest himself of his shirt and arching his hips so he could gingerly kick his joggers off, the process taking longer than he would have liked due to his knee.

As soon as he was done, Virgil slipped back down the bed, now as naked as Tycho, watching him as he continued to touch himself.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Virgil whispered, turning slightly to get more comfortable as he drank in the sight, reaching over to run his hands over Tycho’s bare chest, need thrumming through him.

“Been dreaming about you all night,” Tycho admitted, slowing his pace a little as he turned his gaze to look at Virgil, pupils blown wide with pleasure. “F-fuck,” he hissed, as he thumbed the head of his cock. “Want you so badly.”

“Me too,” Virgil breathed, deft fingers finding one of Tycho’s nipples, rubbing the nub a little, pinching when Tycho keened at the touch, closing his eyes again and arching his back.

“Fuck me, Virgil, _please_ ,” he begged, voice cracking with pleasure. “I need you.”

“Seeing as you asked so nicely,” Virgil smirked, rolling over slowly, careful of his leg which now had a dull ache to it, not enough to make him want to stop but still somewhat of a distraction. He turned himself onto his side, pulling the drawer of his bedside table out and grabbing the lube inside before turning back over, finding Tycho still slowly touching himself, watching his every move.

“How do you want me?” Virgil asked, voice low and needy as he watched his lovers actions, every nerve in his body telling him to grab him, to taste him, his cock rock hard and twitching at the thought.

Tycho hesitated, touch slowing even more.

“I… I don’t know how to…” he stopped his motion entirely, expression worried.

“Hey,” Virgil put the lube behind him, shifting himself forward to press his body against Tycho’s, one arm going over his stomach and grabbing his hips, pulling him close. The other hand moved up to his head, stroking through his hair. “It’s okay. You can ask me anything. I’m not going to get angry,” he reassured him. “I want you to feel good.”

Tycho nodded, taking a deep, shaky breath as he turned into Virgil’s touch, facing him. He pressed their hips together, the friction of their cocks touching as they fitted their bodies together drawing a deep moan from both of them.

It was all Virgil could do to stop himself from grinding himself against the slimmer man and dry humping him.

Tycho leant forward, lips seeking Virgil’s. The pilot willingly complied, tongue flicking out against the slimmer man’s, causing his hips to buck and him to gasp into the kiss. Virgil took the opportunity to slip his tongue into his mouth, exploring the space as he pulled him closer.

A soft vibrating noise caught their attention behind Tycho; his phone buzzing on the table.

“Oh fuck off,” Tycho whispered against Virgil’s lips. “Ignore it,” he instructed, kissing Virgil again, wrapping his leg over the larger man’s hips, pressing against him. “I… I want you to…” He swallowed hard, searching for the confidence to express himself.

Virgil kissed him softly, the hand in Tycho’s hair tightening its grip, pulling the strands sharply, making the inventor gasp and moan.

“F-fuck,” he whispered into the kiss, hips bucking again.

“Tell me, Tycho,” Virgil ordered him, lips moving to his chin and down, onto his neck, pressing soft kisses against the sensitive skin.

Tycho moaned, throwing his head back as he relished the attention, soon turned into a whimpering mess as Virgil’s hand moved from his hip to his backside, squeezing the flesh there gently.

He reluctantly broke the kiss, pulling back to look at Virgil with lust in his eyes.

“I… want you to fuck me,” Tycho panted, eyes flickering down to Virgil’s lips, unable to maintain eye contact. “But I… I want you to… from behind… like this,” he punctuated the word with a soft push of his body against Virgil’s, “but… like spooning. I… I’m sorry,” he finished shakily, confidence drained.

Virgil acted instantly, the hand in Tycho’s hair moving to his chin, tilting his face up as he bought their lips together again, reassuring him.

“Turn over,” he murmured into the kiss, moving back and reaching behind him for the lube.

Tycho gave a short nod as he took a shaky breath, pecking Virgil on the cheek in an act far too innocent for the situation they were in before he shifted himself, twisting his body until he was facing the other way, heart thundering in his chest.

Virgil wasted no time in pressing himself against Tycho, hand going back to his hip, pulling him against his body and grinding his cock against the smaller man’s backside.

Tycho pushed back, moaning when Virgil’s cock slipped between his buttocks, teasing him.

“You want it like this?” Virgil asked, voice low and gravelly as he leant up to Tycho’s ear, flicking his tongue against the shell. Tycho shuddered, thrusting his hips back.

“Y-yes,” he breathed, “please, Virgil, I need you.”

Virgil groaned, pulling back and bringing the lube in front of him and squirting a generous amount onto his hand, making sure to coat his fingers thoroughly.

“Just relax,” he whispered as he put the bottle out of the way and reached down to Tycho’s backside, slipping his fingers down and finding his entrance, teasing it with the tip of his index finger. “Going to make you feel good.”

“F-fuck,” Tycho moaned, pressing back against the finger, desperate to have Virgil inside him.

“Slow down,” Virgil cooed softly. “Going to do this properly, okay? I want to make sure it’s good.”

“Will be,” Tycho panted. “Just, need you.”

“I know,” Virgil smiled softly as he slipped his index finger inside Tycho’s body. The smaller man pressed back harder, moaning at the sensation.

“Fuck, Virgil, more,” he begged, pressing his head back against Virgil’s shoulder, wanting to be closer to him.

Virgil grinned, slipping his finger all the way in as he leant forward, kissing the back of Tycho’s neck as he pressed his chest against his back.

Tycho moaned again, desperate for more friction. Virgil quickly complied, withdrawing his finger almost all the way before adding his index finger, pushing the two digits inside slowly.

“V-Virgil, fuck, p-please, _please_ ,” Tycho whimpered, pressing back against him.

“Shhh,” Virgil replied softly. “Got to get you ready.”

“Don’t care, need you now,” Tycho insisted.

“No,” Virgil said firmly. “We do this properly or not at all. I’m not hurting you, understand?”

Tycho let out a frustrated moan but nodded in reply, pressing back more.

“Thank you, babe,” Virgil praised him, face heating up a little from the slip of the pet name. He pushed the thought from his mind, beginning to scissor his fingers, stretching Tycho’s body out and prepping him thoroughly. “Going to make you feel so good,” he murmured, finishing his prep and slipping his fingers out.

The inventor whimpered at the loss of contact, pressing his body back against Virgil’s, desperate to be filled again.

“Fuck me, please,” he begged, voice full of need.

Virgil shuddered as another wave of pleasure ran through him. He loved hearing the smaller man so desperate for him; it was driving him wild already.

“Don’t know how long I’m going to last if you keep asking like that,” he admitted as he shifted his hips back again, reaching for the lube and beginning to coat his dick.

“Don’t care,” Tycho breathed. “Just want you inside me. Want you to cum in me.”

“Fuck, you’re filthy,” Virgil replied with a moan as he threw the bottle behind him, running his hand over his cock and coating it generously with the slick liquid. “And you are hot as fuck.”

As soon as he’d finished, he wiped his hand on the bed before reaching forward, grasping Tycho’s thigh and using it to pull him against his body, lifting the leg in the process. Tycho gasped, shuffling himself backward, pressing his backside against Virgil’s hips as the pilot lined himself up with his entrance, the head of his cock pushing into the tight ring of muscle.

“You ready?” Virgil purred against his ear, sliding his free hand under Tycho’s body to grip at his chest, holding him tightly.

Tycho nodded, whimpering in anticipation.

“Going to fuck you nice and slow. Want to make this last,” Virgil murmured as he moved his hips forward, ignoring the insistent nagging pain that bloomed in his knee as he bent it up, pressing his cock into Tycho’s body.

The slimmer man gasped as Virgil’s cock entered him slowly, the drag of his flesh against the tight muscle driving him wild. The stretching had helped somewhat, but there was still a small amount of discomfort at the intrusion. Tycho moaned, fighting the urge to push himself back and take Virgil all the way in, waiting as patiently as he could.

“ _Please_ ,” he begged, body shaking as Virgil slid into him, inch by inch until he was fully sheathed inside.

Virgil let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding as he was gripped by Tycho’s tight heat, the muscles surrounding his cock twitching against him.

“Fuck, you feel amazing,” Virgil hissed, shifting his hips to pull out slowly, a couple of inches before he thrust back in, Tycho arching against him.

“Virgil,” he whimpered, “feels good, need, more…”

The pilot groaned a little, every nerve in his body telling him to thrust wildly, to fuck Tycho until he was screaming for him. He held himself back, keeping his movements slow and steady as he continued to thrust in and out, letting Tycho’s body adjust to his movements.

“Are you ready for more?” Virgil asked softly, pressing soft kisses to the skin below Tycho’s ear as he continued to move in and out of his tight hole.

“Yes,” Tycho hissed, leaning his head back into Virgil’s shoulder, giving him more access.

“Tell me if you need me to slow down,” Virgil instructed him as he drew his hips back a little more, then surged forward, thrusting deeper into Tycho.

The action caused Tycho to arch his hips again, pressing back against Virgil, a long, guttural moan leaving the inventors lips as Virgil began fucking him in earnest. The hand wound around Tycho’s body pulled him back flush against his chest, the other hand still on his inner thigh keeping the smaller man’s leg raised, giving him perfect access as his thrusts picked up speed.

“Fuck,” Virgil moaned, snapping his hips forward and drawing a groan from his lover. “You’re so fucking good,” he praised him, lips on his neck turning to teeth as his actions became harder.

“Virgil,” Tycho moaned, “fuck, I lo… I need you, I always need you,” he caught himself, wanting nothing more than to let go, to say everything on his mind.

The soft buzzing of his phone in front of him distracted him for a moment, eyes flickering open and seeing the screen lit up. Whoever was trying to get in contact with him was insistent.

Both he and Virgil ignored the phone as Virgil pulled out almost all the way, slamming his cock back into Tycho, burying himself deep inside his body once again.

The action caused the head of his cock to brush against a bundle of nerves deep inside Tycho, sending a wave of pleasure rippling through the inventor’s body.

“Virgil!” he half screamed, “please, don’t stop, don’t ever stop!” he begged him, pressing himself back against Virgil, writhing and moaning, a measure of his self-control lost now.

“Don’t plan to,” Virgil panted, his own pleasure building as he continued to fuck his lover, the hand on his chest now moving to one of Tycho’s nipples, pinching the nub sharply, drawing more moans and whimpers from him.

“Vir… fuck, Virgil,” Tycho groaned, fighting the urge to say something stupid. “Only you, only want you.”

Virgil groaned at the words, thrusting in sharply again, hitting Tycho’s spot with precision now, the smaller man writhing and whimpering under his actions.

“Mine,” Virgil growled, lips latching on to a spot under Tycho’s ear, sucking the skin hard, marking him. Tycho leant his head back with another long groan, giving Virgil all the access he desired.

“Yours,” Tycho confirmed, a warm heat pooling in his stomach, tingling feeling spreading throughout his entire body. “I’m close,” he admitted, feeling the pleasure build inside him.

“Want you to come for me,” Virgil instructed him, satisfied with the mark he’d left on Tycho’s neck, grunting with effort as he sped up his thrusts, fucking him hard and fast now.

“Only for you,” Tycho repeated, head thrown back. “Only ever you.”

They moaned in unison as Tycho’s body began to shudder, the muscles clutching at Virgil contracting as his orgasm ripped through him, milking every possible ounce of pleasure from him.

He came across his stomach in thick white ribbons, half screaming Virgil’s name.

Virgil fought to maintain his pace as Tycho spasmed around his cock, his own pleasure overtaking him. He gritted his teeth and pressed his face into Tycho’s neck, needing to be as close to him as possible as he fucked Tycho as hard as he could, hands pulling the smaller man as close to him as he could as he thrust deeper into him than he had managed before, the inventor whimpering as his cock pressed against his prostate, drawing out his orgasm.

“Virgil, fuck, I love you,” Tycho whispered, barely loud enough for Virgil to hear as he arched his back, overcome with pleasure.

The words spurred something in Virgil, some primal feeling that overtook him as he continued to fuck Tycho as his own orgasm hit him, riding out the waves of pleasure that rolled over him, pressing kisses into Tycho’s neck as he came deep inside his lover, moaning his name and holding him close, wishing he could freeze this moment in time.

Tycho’s body milked him dry, the muscles still going wild at his presence.

Once his orgasm had subsided, he relaxed his hands a little, releasing his grip on Tycho’s thigh and using the hand tucked under him to stroke soothing circles into his chest as he slowly withdrew himself from the velvet heat.

Tycho whimpered at the sensation, feeling open and vulnerable as Virgil removed himself entirely, realisation of his admission hitting him like a tonne of bricks. He suddenly wanted to curl in on himself and disappear, unsure of Virgil’s reaction, fear replacing the contented pleasure that had run through him moments before.

On the table next to him, his phone began to vibrate again.

Tears pricked at his eyes as he ignored it, unsure of how to proceed.

Virgil pulled him close again, his softening cock pressed against his backside as his free hand went to Tycho’s hip, holding him in place as he cuddled up to the smaller man. He must have sensed the change in Tycho, the tension, as moments later, he was using his grip to roll him over, making him face him.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly as Tycho gave in, turning to look at him. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Tycho shook his head, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks as he looked at Virgil, the fear and guilt in his eyes almost too much to bear.

“I’m sorry,” Tycho choked out. “I shouldn’t have said… I’ve fallen for you, so hard,” he admitted through his sobs, “I just, I couldn’t stop myself, I couldn’t keep it in, I’m…”

Virgil cut him off with a passionate kiss, hands moving to Tycho’s neck and back, pulling their bodies together once more. Tycho’s hands responded in kind, wrapping around Virgil’s back, no pressure there but resting, comforting.

“I know,” Virgil breathed against Tycho’s lips as he broke their kiss to look at him, only fondness and adoration in his chestnut eyes now as he gazed at the inventor, a smile on his lips. “I feel it to. And I’m scared, but… this is, it feels so right. I…” he hesitated, drawing a deep breath as the emotion settled in his chest, heart thundering. “I love you too,” he smiled, entire body on fire with fear, skin tingling.

Tycho let out a relieved sob, lips seeking Virgil’s again. They relaxed into each other, kissing slow and passionately for a while, just lost in the feel of each other as they came down from their respective orgasms, relishing the feeling.

It had been so long since either of them had had this kind of peace, satisfaction and mutual adoration.

The blissful moment was cut short by Tycho’s phone vibrating once again on the table next to him. They broke the kiss, smiling at each other as Tycho reluctantly rolled over to the table, Virgil immediately shifting against him again, holding him close.

Tycho groaned at the action, pressing back.

“Fuck, I know I can’t take any more but I want you again already,” he admitted as he froze mid grab for the phone, hand landing on the soft sheets.

“Tell me about it,” Virgil smiled against his neck. “But whoever is trying to get hold of you seems insistent.”

“The only person I want to get hold of me is you,” Tycho smiled, turning back to gaze back to Virgil, who flushed, desire rippling through him again.

“You should at least see who it is,” Virgil admitted reluctantly, wanting nothing more than to grab Tycho and fuck him again, to make him forget everything other than him, as he’d promised.

Tycho sighed.

“I know you’re right, but I wish you weren’t.”

“Me too,” Virgil chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to Tycho’s chin, the smaller man letting out a groan as he flipped himself back over to face him, lips seeking Virgil’s insistently. The pilot gave in instantly, unable to fight him as he kissed him thoroughly, completely lost in his lips.

Tycho’s phone vibrated again, causing them to break apart with a soft chuckle.

“Okay, okay,” Tycho sighed again, rolling over to press the phone, answering on loudspeaker.

“Tycho Reeves,” he answered, rolling onto his back and gazing at Virgil adoringly.

“Ty! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for hours, you complete idiot!” a strong, English female voice echoed from the phone. Tycho’s face dropped.

“Shit,” he muttered, noting Virgil’s concern. “It’s Saz, my business manager,” he explained quietly. Virgil nodded. “Sorry Saz,” Tycho apologised, turning back to face the phone on his side, Virgil immediately cuddling back up to him, an arm thrown over his waist as he spoke to the woman. “I got a bit… caught up.”

“Caught up? Caught up? That’s your excuse?” she asked, furious. “I have been calling you for four and a half hours after what I’ve seen in the past day and you say you’ve been _caught up_?”

“What do you mean, what you’ve seen?” Tycho asked, concerned.

Saz sighed.

“Have you not seen the news? I mean I know you’re on some top secret island, but do they not have TV?”

Tycho looked over his shoulder to Virgil who nodded at the screen projector on the wall facing the bed.

“Which channel?” Tycho asked the phone.

“Any of the news channels right now,” she sighed in reply.

Virgil nodded.

“TV on,” he instructed.

“Who’s that?” Saz asked suddenly. Tycho looked to Virgil with a sheepish smile which he returned.

“It’s… Virgil,” he tried, flushing bright red.

“Virgil… Tracy?” she clarified. “The big guy, the one who looks like he could bench a house?”

Virgil chuckled softly as the TV clicked flickered into life.

“Er, yes,” Tycho smiled awkwardly. “Him.”

“And why are you with him right now?” Saz asked, her tone knowing. “I swear to god, Ty, if you’ve gone and got yourself another celebrity squeeze, I might just have to quit. My blood pressure cannot take this.”

“Oh Saz, don’t be dramatic,” he chuckled, attention suddenly drawn by the TV as the news flashed on.

Both he and Virgil turned to sit up a little as Tycho’s face flashed up on screen.

 _“Celebrated inventor Tycho Reeves was spotted yesterday in Russia assisting International Rescue with a highly complex rescue which involved saving the lives of over thirty people from an oil fire caused by careless drilling,_ ” the reporter, a man in a casual suit sat at a table read, the stock photo of Tycho giving way to shaky footage which Virgil instantly recognised as the internal of Thunderbird 2’s module.

“One of the people we rescued must have filmed this,” he murmured, angry. Some people were opportunists, he knew this, but it never failed to make him furious.

The footage continued, showing Tycho running in, moving to the exo-suit calibrator and getting fitted into it, then running back out of the module, towards the sea of oil and the sinkhole in the distance. The footage cut off.

“ _What does this mean for Mr Reeves various business and companies? Is Mr Reeves now a full time member of International Rescue? Are International Rescue hiring? So many unanswered questions remain. As of this broadcast, neither Mr Reeves or International Rescue have made a statement. Now, onto last night’s fashion show in London._ ”

The news trailed off and Tycho turned back to the phone.

“What’s happened?” he asked.

Saz sighed deeply.

“Shares have fallen 14%. The Government Eco-Transport Commission is requesting an explanation, saying you’re supposed to be focusing on that. And the board is demanding you address them in person within the next twenty four hours, or they’re threatening to take control of the company.”

“Shit,” Tycho sighed, sitting upright and bringing a hand up to his face. “That’s… not good.”

“Tell me about it,” she replied sternly. “And you being totally out of contact and not answering your damn phone for hours hasn’t helped…” She sighed again, tone becoming less angry. “Ty, we were really worried. We didn’t know what had happened. If you’d… I’m glad you’re okay,” she admitted. “I’m still _furious_ with you, mind, but I’m glad. I take it you’re coming home?”

Tycho sighed, looking back to Virgil, eyes sad.

“I’m going to have to,” he replied sadly. “The board will just start trying to militarize everything again, the bastards. I’ll… I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Ok. And Ty… we’ll need to talk about your… situation with International Rescue when you get back. We’ve got to play damage control here.”

“I understand.”

“Good. See you in a bit. Just give me a heads up when you’re near.”

“Will do. Thanks Saz.”

The phone line dropped, the screen going black.

“TV off,” Virgil instructed, the screen disappearing instantly. He turned to Tycho with a sympathetic look on his face. “Well… that didn’t sound good,” he admitted.

Tycho shook his head, turning back to face Virgil and snuggling against him.

“It’s not. It’s… really not,” he replied sadly. “I… I don’t want to go, but.”

“Hey, I understand,” Virgil smiled softly, dropping a kiss onto his head. “It sucks, but I get it. How…” he hesitated. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

“Realistically?” Tycho pulled back to look at him. “I’ll have to get back to London, check in with Saz, address the board and make an official statement, and that’s just the next twenty four hours,” he sighed deeply, grabbing for his phone and scrolling through his messages. Over twenty missed calls was _not_ a good sign. “The GETC will have a field day with this; their commissioner _hates_ me. Went to university with her, bit of a rivalry,” he explained, “she’ll be looking for any reason to get me off the project, even if I am the best person for it, not to sound big headed,” he continued as he scrolled through his messages, eyes widening suddenly. “Oh… and it looks like the hypercar re-launch has been moved forward to… next weekend,” he sighed. “This is not good. I’m sorry,” he looked to Virgil. “But I am going to have to go. Today.”

Virgil sighed sadly, nodding.

“That really does suck,” he admitted. “Do you at least have time for a shower and breakfast?”

Tycho smiled.

“Of course, I can’t leave without getting cleaned up and having a bite,” he chirped. “Especially after this mornings… activities.”

Virgil grinned wide, looking pleased with himself.

“You seemed to enjoy it,” he remarked. Tycho nodded, blushing a little.

“I really did. I’ve never… I always wanted to try that but I’ve never felt… I don’t know… intimate enough with someone, to let them try it. It’s so… close. It was amazing,” he murmured. “I’m still… I’m sorry if I forced you to say something you weren’t ready to. It just kind of slipped out.”

Virgil smiled fondly, pulling Tycho towards him, eyes darting to his lips before moving back up to meet his gaze.

“I’m glad you did,” he admitted, hand cupping Tycho’s face as he drew him in for a kiss. “And you didn’t force me into anything. I’ve felt the same, this, weird connection that we have. And it’s real. It’s so real. And I love you.”

Tycho shivered, the words sending pleasurable tingles throughout his body.

“I love you too,” he replied as Virgil bought their lips together, the kiss short but intense.

“You know everyone’s going to tell us we’re idiots for moving so fast, don’t you?” Virgil sighed, already imagining his brother’s reactions. Tycho nodded.

“Does that bother you?” he asked cautiously.

“Not in the slightest,” Virgil responded instantly, bringing Tycho in for another short, sweet kiss.

Tycho sighed as he kissed Virgil back, wishing they could stay like this forever. But the sun beginning to creep through the blinds reminded them that time would not stop for them, or anyone.

“Thank you for this morning,” Tycho murmured, moving down to rest his head against Virgil’s chest, just wanting a few more minutes of the contact. “It really was amazing. _You’re_ amazing. And I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Me too,” Virgil breathed, dropping a kiss on Tycho’s head. “It’s going to be weird without you here. Got kind of used to seeing you around.”

Tycho chuckled lightly, thinking for a moment.

“You should come to London, see my place,” he offered quickly, anxious. “For the Hypertube re-launch. There’s going to be a huge party. You should come with me.”

“As your date?” Virgil asked, a little surprised.

Tycho nodded.

“Yes, if you… I mean, if you don’t want people knowing, you can just come as, you know, a friend, but, I would… I’d really like it if you came with me.”

Virgil hesitated for a moment, thinking things through. Tycho’s concern grew.

“If you don’t want to, don’t feel like you have to,” he continued, a little more rushed, trying to cover himself. “It’s not that big a thing, I mean…”

“Hey,” Virgil shushed him, picking up on his nerves. “I want to, it’s just… it’s complicated,” he admitted, arms winding back round Tycho’s body to pull him close. “You know how… like with the Hood, the Mechanic, like all these people who try and get to us… to hurt us.” He shifted himself down, moving Tycho back until they were laid together again, facing each other. “There are people out there who want us gone, people who want our tech or just think we’re not doing a good enough job, that we’re bad for the world. But these people…” he paused, drawing a deep breath. “If they thought that hurting you could get to me, could get to us, it paints a huge target on you. I don’t want to push that on you,” he admitted. “I just… want you to know what this entails. Me and you, this, us.”

Tycho stared for a moment, processing.

“You’d really give this up, even though you’re happy, just to keep me safe?” he asked, astonished.

Virgil nodded sadly.

“If that’s what it would take to keep you safe, of course. Your safety trumps my emotions, any day.”

Tycho felt a surge of emotion swell inside him, wishing he had time to show Virgil just how much he cared, how much he meant to him.

“I love you,” he croaked, voice cracking with emotion. “And any price I have to pay to keep doing this, to keep you, I will pay gladly.”

Virgil groaned as he pulled Tycho into him, kissing him once more, wanting more but knowing they didn’t have time.

“Whatever I did to deserve you,” he breathed against Tycho’s lips, “I’m so glad I did it.”

Tycho smiled, pecking his lips.

“I hate to say this but I _really_ need to get up,” he admitted. “I’ve still got to get washed and dressed, pack up my stuff and catch up with Brains before I go.”

“And get some food,” Virgil frowned at him. “You are not flying all the way back to Sydney in your silly little helicopter on an empty stomach.”

Tycho returned his frown and pulled back, crossing his arms.

“It’s a _gyrocopter_ , thank you, and it’s not silly, it’s a classic.”

“Is that another word for old?” Virgil smiled. “Seriously, that thing looks like a death trap. If you need to get back in a hurry, we could always ditch the copter and hijack Thunderbird 1 this time?”

Tycho grinned at him.

“You’re a terrible influence,” he teased. “Do you even know how to fly Thunderbird 1?”

“Can’t be that hard, right?” Virgil chuckled. “If Scott can do it, anyone can.”

“That’s harsh,” Tycho chastised him.

Virgil frowned, his expression a little darker now.

“I have every right to be harsh with him. Between what he’s done to you and Gordon, he’ll be lucky if I manage to stop myself from punching him the next time I see him.”

“Virgil,” Tycho warned him, not liking his words and the implication of violence.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil sighed, pecking him on the cheek. “I shouldn’t say shit  like that, I know. But he’s so frustrating, and this is so circular. We’ll sort him out and in another few months, he’ll be back on the same bullshit. It’s just… frustrating.”

“If it helps,” Tycho offered, “he seemed genuinely sorry when he apologised to me after he’d… you know, said his piece. I think he’s just… he seems like he’s got so much on his plate. He basically runs this, right?”

Virgil sighed, painful memories pricking at his mind.

“Sort of… we don’t really have an official ‘in charge’ person. Not since dad…” he trailed off, a lump growing in his throat. “Sorry,” he choked.

Tycho nuzzled into him, kissing his neck.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have bought it up,” he admitted. “I just think that Scott is dealing with a lot right now. From an outside perspective, he seems to need a lot more support than he’s willing to accept.”

“That’s our Scotty, through and through,” Virgil sighed. “You’ve not even been here that long, and you can see it.” He paused, laying back and heaving another deep sigh. “I love him to bits, he’s my oldest brother, we’ve been close since we were kids but… he tries to act too much like our dad now. Don’t get me wrong, dad was a great man, but he wasn’t always a good one. Not when it came to treating his family like people rather than cogs in a wheel.”

He paused, looking around his room, trying to find something to focus on.  
“We were treated like… I dunno, like we had to have some sort of _use_. Especially after mom. I learnt more about explosives and the science of detonations than anyone should ever know. I learnt to pilot a ship, the use all this specialist gear but… it was always a struggle, and I always felt like I… wasn’t good enough, I guess. There was always something missing, something else I had to learn to make it up to this impossible standard. I don’t want Scott to _be_ that. It’s not him. He’s…  better than that. He sees the value in _people_ , not their uses. I don’t want him to lose that.”

Tycho nodded, kissing Virgil’s neck again, arms tightening around him.

“It sounds like I’m not the one you should be telling this to,” he replied softly. “And it’s obvious he loves you. I mean, would anyone who didn’t care about you threaten a house guest?”

Virgil chuckled softly.

“I guess not. Thank you for being so understanding,” he breathed. “He’s usually more… stable… than this. Gordon, too. He was just… it got too much.”

“Not a problem,” Tycho smiled. “Besides, if I had to go through either of them every night to end up in bed with you, I think it would be worth it.”

“I can promise you now it won’t be that difficult,” Virgil grinned, pulling back to kiss Tycho’s lips once more. “Now… we should get you cleaned up,” he said softly, rolling onto his other side and reaching for his crutch, feeling the twinge of his knee again. “After I’ve had some painkillers, that is.”

“Your knee still bad?” Tycho asked as he sat up, wincing a little at the pain in his backside. He was going to be feeling it for days, and part of him was exhilarated by that.

Virgil nodded shortly.

“Think I might have pushed it a little far yesterday. Got physio on Wednesday next week. I think I’m going to be shouted at.”

“Fun,” Tycho smiled sadly. “Hopefully it won’t be too bad. Listen, you take your painkillers, I’ll get the shower warmed up and you can join me, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Virgil winked at the inventor as he stood up, moving stark naked across the room, looping the bed and heading into the bathroom.

“I’ll be waiting,” Tycho winked back, closing the door behind him.

Virgil sighed to himself, feeling content and happy for the first time in a while.

He’d really struck out on this one.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family dramas resurface

Scott awoke with a start, looking around the room he was in. It definitely wasn’t his, he noted as he looked to the model star system and rockets hanging over the bed, the posters of TV shows on the wall.

 _Alan’s room,_ his mind supplied.

He’d headed up here after Sally had calmed him down; it had been a while since he’d had an episode that bad, head fuzzy, unable to think straight, to focus. She’d told him to rest, to go to bed, deemed him unfit to fly and insisted that everything would be okay, and he hadn’t had the strength to argue.

But he’d been so _angry_. He’d gone to find Alan with the full intent of shouting at him, of telling him that he needed to head out in a pod, to drag him with him, sneak back to Thunderbird 1 and head out to join the others but… when he’d come into his room, found him curled up, sound asleep in his flight suit, still worn and stained from the previous rescue, he hadn’t been able to do it. He’d just watched him for a while, guilt pulsing through him before he’d laid down, intent on going back to his own room after a few minutes, but he must have fallen asleep.

Now Alan was gone; he must have woken up as confused as Scott as to what he was doing there.

Looking at the clock on the wall, he saw the bright green letters shining back at him. 08:36. _Shit._ He’d slept all night.

A pang of fear ran through him.

Were the others back? What had happened with the fire?

Looking to the comms unit, he activated it.

“John? You up?”

“Morning Alan, what’s… Oh. It’s you,” came his brother’s reply, tone turning sharp as his holographic image projected into the room, lighting up Scott’s face. “Why are you in Alan’s room?”

“Must have fallen asleep in here,” Scott admitted, not wanting to go into details.

“I swear, Scott, if you’ve been berating him…”

“I haven’t,” Scott snapped. “I was just calling to ask how yesterday went.”

John sighed, contemplating ignoring the request.

“Fine. Everyone got back okay,” he answered flatly. “The others will fill you in on the details. And I suggest you get yourself up and about. You’ve got some explaining to do today.”

“I know,” Scott admitted, guilt making him feel queasy. “I’m sorry,” he added, looking down, ashamed.

John folded his arms.

“It’s not me you need to apologise to,” he replied, sounding angry. “Gordon’s gotten up about ten minutes ago. Was heading to the hangar, I think. You need to talk to him, and everyone else.”

“Okay,” Scott swallowed, a sense of dread settling in his stomach as John cut the comm line. They’d had family arguments like this before, but Virgil’s words from the previous night still cut into him.

_“Where are you going?”_

_“The fuck away from the person pretending to be our father.”_

Is that really what Virgil thought he was trying to do? There had been people in danger, they were needed, and if only one of them could go…

Gordon’s face, the fearful look in his eyes suddenly ran through his mind, another wave of guilt crashing onto him. His stomach dropped.

He’d been wrong. So wrong. Jeff would never have sent him out on his own, in a ship that wasn’t his own, to a situation like that…

At least everyone was okay. And now he needed to go and make things right.

*-*-*-*

Gordon was _pissed_. Scott knew this, because the only times he ever willingly worked on Thunderbird 4 were when he was either angry, the ship wouldn’t function without him doing something to it or he finally got sick and tired of Brains moaning at him to do it.

And judging by the awful techno music blaring from the speakers inside the module where he was working, Brains wasn’t around (seeing as he would complain until he turned it off).

Scott carefully approached the open module, footsteps quiet but audible. If Gordon heard him, he didn’t react to his presence.

The younger man was underneath Thunderbird 4 where it was jacked up, fiddling with the components behind the portal, reaching down for tools as he needed them. Dressed in jeans and a ratty grey shirt with holes in it, he was obviously prepared to be down here for a while.

Next to all of his tools, an empty plate rested, the remains of a bagel littering it. At least he’d managed to grab one on his way down after a brief talk with Sally, her checking up on him.

Treading carefully around the tools, Scott moved next to Thunderbird 4, looking her over. He never really had much cause to be this close to her, not since she was first built, and now checking her over, he regretted that. She was a beautiful ship, all soft angles and raw strength that came with being able withstand the enormous amounts of pressure the deep ocean could provide, and without her, they would often be lost.

A slight pang of jealousy ran through him as he looked over the ship one last time; he loved Thunderbird 1 but, boy, did he wish he could experience the others ships sometimes.

Gordon’s hand suddenly flew out from underneath the ship, making a grabbing motion.

“Hand me the electro-spanner,” he demanded with a shout over the music.

Scott obliged, unsure if Gordon knew who he was asking. He handed the tool over, Gordon snatching it and immediately going back to work.

“So what do you want?” Gordon asked.

“You know it’s me?” Scott asked, wary.

“Yeah,” Gordon sighed loudly, looking over to the stereo. “Volume to 18,” he shouted, the volume of the electronic beats dropping suddenly. Scott breathed a sigh of relief, his head no longer pounding. “You always creep up on people when you’re feeling guilty,” Gordon pointed out, sliding out from underneath Thunderbird 4 in a fluid movement, his face smeared with oil and sweat. “So, you come to apologise or bitch at me?”

Scott frowned.

“What if I just came to talk?” he replied shortly. Gordon snorted.

“You haven’t done that since mom was alive. Now cut the bullshit. Which is it?”

Scott stared at his brother for a moment as he stood up, brushing himself off and walked over to the table where his stereo sat, picking up a bottle of energy drink that sat there and taking a long swig.

“I… came to apologise. For yesterday,” Scott admitted sheepishly.

Gordon continued his drink, downing the rest of the contents of the bottle before throwing it carelessly behind him.

“I bet you did,” Gordon smiled ruefully. “I bet you’ve been feeling bad all night, tossing and turning, thinking about us all out there, risking our lives while you sit here and play the role of dad, right? Except, no,” he turned to Scott, a fire in his eyes that was rarely seen, true anger. Scott swallowed, wanting to say something, to defend himself, but knowing that if he set Gordon off now, he’d come out worse off.

“No,” Gordon continued, advancing on Scott now. “I come home from one of the toughest rescues I’ve ever been on last night to find you sound asleep in Alan’s room, after, and correct me if I’m wrong here, but guessing you barged into his room, wanting to send _him_ out too, only to find some shred of humanity somewhere in that stone heart of yours? Am I close?”

Scott said nothing, breathing steadily as he let Gordon get everything out.

“You know I hadn’t slept in _thirty seven_ _hours_ by the time I got home, Scott? You know I couldn’t even think straight by the time I got home? Do you even care? Do you care that I nearly _died_ last night?”

 _That_ caught Scott’s attention.

“It was that close?” he asked softly, not able to stop himself. Gordon stopped advancing, stopping a few feet away from him, hands clenched in fists at his side now.

“Tycho saved me,” Gordon hissed, eyes still alight, taking obvious pleasure in the shock that crossed Scott’s face. “That’s right,” he nodded, tone defiant. “Virgil, the older brother who _actually_ cares about me, risked his life and his health, and so did Tycho. They snuck on board Thunderbird 2 and came to help, because they _knew_ it would be too dangerous.” His stance became more defensive, arms crossing across his chest. “A man I’ve known barely a week risked his life to save me, and did, and if he hadn’t have been there as the backup I told you I needed, I would be dead right now, a burned corpse at the bottom of a pile of rubble, because of _you_.”

Scott’s body shuddered at the thought, mind racing.

“Gordon, I…”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it,” Gordon snarled, cutting him off. “I told you, outright that I needed backup and you basically told me to fuck off. I’m fucking done listening to you. If it was up to me, _Virgil_ would be the one in charge. He risked _everything_ to help me, even when he knew he shouldn’t, because that’s what family _does_. You’re turning into dad, seeing us as tools, not people, and everyone is sick of your shit.”

“I was wrong, okay?” Scott yelled, Gordon’s words cutting him deeply. “I was fucking wrong, I was exhausted and I made a shitty call, is that what you want to hear?”

“No, I don’t want you to _make_ shitty calls!” Gordon screamed back, unfolding his arms and gesturing wildly. “I want you to understand how fucking dangerous this is for us, and to not send us out without any backup!”

“I had no fucking choice!” Scott shouted back, “those people would have died if we hadn’t have gone! We can’t just stand by and not act! People depend on us!”

“Oh my god, you sound _just_ fucking like him!” Gordon shook his head in disbelief. “It’s like you’ve been practising! Next you’ll be telling us what a waste of time all our hobbies are, how we should be training 24/7.” He paused, gaze still furious.

“You know what,” Gordon hissed, advancing on Scott again until he was only a foot or so away from him, far too close for comfort. “I almost wished that something awful _had_ happened last night, that something had gone _seriously_ wrong or that someone had gotten hurt, just to teach _you_ a fucking lesson. How fucked up is that? That I’d actually wish that. And _you’ve_ done that to me, Scott.”

Scott’s mouth fell open at his words; he’d experienced Gordon’s temper before, knew he could say things that cut deep but this was on a whole other level.

“I… I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his brother’s words embedding themselves in his brain as he struggled to process everything. “I was wrong and… I…”

“I don’t want your fucking apologies,” Gordon spat, turning away from him and moving back to Thunderbird 4. “And this isn’t something I can just forgive. I…” he hesitated as he looked over his bird, a lump forming in his throat. “I fucking love you, Scott. I do. You’re like… when you’re good, you’re the fucking best, but last night…” he turned back to his brother. “Last night, I lost faith in you, completely. I needed you to recognise how out of it I was, to give me _something_ , and you didn’t. You turned into dad, willing to sacrifice us to keep total strangers safe. That was… it was fucked up. It fucked _me_ up. And I can’t… I can’t just let that go.”

“Gordon,” Scott tried, tears pricking at his eyes.

“No,” Gordon cut him off. “You need to let me be angry right now,” he explained, voice cracking a bit. “I’m still tired, I barely slept, I’m still fucked up. I just… need some time to myself. Just… leave me for a bit. Okay?”

Scott nodded, hating himself.

“I just… wanted you to know, I’m sorry,” he said, voice shaking. “I don’t need you to accept it, I just wanted you to know.”

“I know,” Gordon breathed, turning back to Thunderbird 4 and resting his hand on her; even in the hardest times, she was his comfort, his baby. Even if he did put off maintenance on her way too much. “I can’t right now,” he admitted, “but I want to. Just… can you go? I need to… think.”

Scott turned around, leaving immediately, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.

He felt like shit, Gordon’s words ringing in his ears. He really had fucked up this time.

Behind him, Gordon listened for the sound of him leaving. Once his footsteps had faded into the distance, he let go, tears beginning to spill down his cheeks as he collapsed forward, falling onto the nose of Thunderbird 4, sobbing into her as he finally let everything out.

He’d been hoping to stay calm, to talk things through like a reasonable person, but seeing Scott stood there had ignited a fire in him, and he’d been unable to stop himself from spilling his guts to him. Gordon had never been one for controlling himself when it came to speaking his mind.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump, body spinning around as fear coursed through him.

“That sounded intense.”

“Kayo!” he exhaled, heart hammering in his chest, “don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry,” she apologised sincerely, eyes full of concern. “I was heading down to you when he came in. Are you okay?”

Gordon went to say yes, to do his usual routine, covering up his hurt, cracking jokes, coping, but something in him snapped. Like the straw that broke the camel’s back, everything came crashing down.

“No,” he admitted with a sob, turning to Kayo and falling into her. Kayo reacted on instinct, catching Gordon, eyes wide as the blonde sobbed into her, wrapping his arms around her, desperately seeking comfort. She awkwardly twined her arms around him, holding him and patting his back in what she hoped was a comforting way.

“I hate him,” Gordon sobbed into her. “I hate him so much right now. But I love him, and I don’t know what to do.”

Kayo shushed him, wishing she could take Gordon’s pain away.

“It’s going to be okay,” she reassured him. “Scott knows he did wrong. He’s feeling it right now, from everyone. But we’ve got to talk this through. We’re going to get through this together, yeah?”

Gordon nodded uselessly, clutching at her back.

“I don’t want to get through this,” he admitted, choking a little. “I want this to _stop_. I want him to come back. I want Scott back. He keeps acting like dad, I… I want my brother back.”

“I know,” Kayo soothed him. “We all do. He just… you know what he went through. You know what was expected of him. He expects too much of himself because of that.”

“But why won’t he listen?” Gordon asked, voice so childlike and hurt Kayo felt like she’d been punched in the gut. “Why won’t he listen to us?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered honestly. “I wish I knew. We all want to help him. But until he wants to help himself, there’s not a lot we can do.”

“Fuck,” Gordon breathed, finally pulling away from Kayo’s embrace, face heating up a little. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t… I’m usually better than this.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” she reassured him. “We all have our moments.”

“Even you?” Gordon asked, unbelieving.

“Even me,” she winked, smile fading quickly. “Are you sure you’re okay? You went through hell yesterday.”

Gordon sighed, shaking his head as he turned back towards Thunderbird 4, patting her nose lovingly.

“Honestly? I… don’t know. I don’t think everything’s hit me yet. If Tycho hadn’t…” he trailed off, guilt rising through him. “I… think I attacked Tycho last night,” he admitted, feeling queasy.

“What?” Kayo asked, stunned. It wasn’t often she felt real fear, but a pang of it ran through her. “What happened?”

“I… pushed him against my door. I threatened him. All I could think of was Jason. Seeing him and Virgil… I don’t know. It felt… weird. Like… I can’t explain it. I’m so scared he’s going to turn out to be the same,” he murmured, looking back at Kayo, fresh tears welling in his eyes. “After yesterday, I… I can’t believe it. I won’t, but… I was exhausted and my brain just… fuck… I’m such an idiot. Must run in the family.”

“Is Tycho okay?” Kayo asked, seconds away from sprinting up to Virgil’s room and checking on him.

“Yeah,” Gordon nodded. “Virgil knocked some sense into me. Put me to bed. He knew I was… I really hope he doesn’t hate me.”

“Tycho or Virgil?”

“Both,” Gordon sighed, dropping his head. “It was stupid. I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Gordon.”

“Sometimes.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“I guess,” he shrugged. “But it was still the wrong thing to do.”

Kayo sighed, looking him up and down. He still looked exhausted, eyes ringed by dark shadows, shoulders slumped.

“It was,” she admitted, “but you know that, and I know you’ll find a way to make it right. But,” she walked over to the stereo, flipping it off. Gordon stared at her, frowning. “You need to go back to bed. You’re still exhausted, and you _know_ if you leave it any longer that alarm is going to go off the second you get to sleep.”

Gordon sighed again, defeated.

“Yeah… I know. I just… needed to work some shit out.”

“At least it’s not a bad way to deal with everything,” she offered, smiling. Gordon returned the gesture, a glint of his usual, playful grin lighting up his face.

“Thanks, Kayo. I appreciate you coming to find me.”

“Hey, what’s family for?” she shrugged. “I was worried about you. Yesterday was… it was really close.”

“I know,” he breathed, body giving a shudder. “It was scary. Like _really_ scary.”

“It was,” she admitted. “Never been more glad in my life that Virgil doesn’t ever listen to Scott.”

“And that he bought his boyfriend along for the ride.”

“That as well,” she chuckled. “Tycho really stepped up. If anyone had any doubts about him, I think yesterday should have cleared that up.”

“I hope so,” Gordon nodded. “I like him. Really. He’s kind, he’s selfless. He’s… he cares about Virgil. Seeing them together like that… they just seemed to kind of… fit. Like they’d been together forever. It was really weird. And kind of gross.”

Kayo chuckled.

“Well it’s never nice to think about your brother getting it on, I guess.”

Gordon’s face twisted with disgust.

“Oh my god, _thanks_ , Kayo. I was just talking about them kissing. Oh, god, I need to go and bleach my brain. Nope, no, stop thinking about that, oh my god, I want to die.”

Kayo giggled as Gordon shook his head, making gagging noises.

“You’re such a child,” she reprimanded him. “I, for one, am _glad_ that Virgil’s getting a bit of tail. God knows he deserves it.”

“Can we _not_ talk about Virgil fucking Tycho any more, please?”

“What makes you think Virgil’s the one fucking anyone?” Kayo asked with a raised eyebrow.

Gordon’s eyes widened.

“You are disgusting and this conversation is _over_ ,” he grumbled. “Do _not_ want to think about that. Ugh, now I _really_ have to go bleach my brain. Have I mentioned how much I hate you?”

“You hate everyone,” Kayo laughed as Gordon grumbled to himself, crouching to pack his tools up.

“Only when it’s deserved,” he reasoned, waving his wrench at her in a mildly threatening manner. “And this is _definitely_ deserved.”

She smiled, glad she’d managed to pull him out of his stupor. A noise behind her caught her attention, turning just quick enough to see Scott disappearing from the side of the module entrance.

Her heart dropped a little, wondering how much he’d heard.

“Right. Let’s head up,” Gordon said from behind her, tools all packed away. “The bagels this morning were actually not bad. Might need to grab another one before bed.”

“Sounds good,” she smiled. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Should probably do something about that.”

“You never eat enough,” Gordon chastised her. “I mean when was the last time you actually joined us for a meal?”

“When was the last time we all got to sit down together for a meal?” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s not like we’re exactly living in a normal set up here. Guaranteed, the second we all sat down, there would be some kind of global catastrophe.”

Gordon sighed, unable to argue.

“I guess you’re right,” he admitted. “Still, would be nice to see you around more. You know we all miss you like crazy when you’re gone, right? Without you, we’d probably have torn each other to pieces by now. You and grandma keep up on the straight and narrow.”

“It’s all the testosterone,” she reasoned. “Makes you all want to one up each other.”

“That’s incredibly sexist,” Gordon frowned, a smile pulling at his lips.

“Also incredibly true,” she shrugged. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“Fight you?” Gordon asked, unable to stop himself from laughing. “Yeah, that would be a great plan.”

“You can try,” Kayo winked, getting into a faux fighting stance. “I _will_ kick your butt though, just to give you fair warning.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gordon waved her away. “Only because I’m tired.”

“Of course,” she relaxed, smiling again. “And you know I miss you guys too. All this recon and stuff, it’s tiring. But it’s necessary. And it keeps us safe. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to any of you.”

Gordon regarded her with an odd look, realising just how tired she looked in that moment as she gave him an easy smile.

For a moment, he struggled to recognise her, wondering how the young woman he’d known most of his life, the innocent young thing that had come to the island broken and grieving after the death of her family had turned into the person he now saw in front of him.

There were times Kayo could be cold, distant and mechanical, a far cry from the emotive, loving and open woman she had been when she’d come to them, when she used to lay with them outside for hours, chatting, joking and becoming a part of their family.

He suddenly wanted to say something, to explain how to he felt and try to bring her back, to get her to see how much they wanted her back and open, to make her understand that she didn’t need to do _this_ , to be so serious, so on all the time. But as he searched for the words, his brain only provided memories of them all together, unable to process what he wanted to say.

“You need sleep, seriously,” Kayo frowned at him, watching the play of emotions over his face.

“Kayo…” he began. “I…”

The sound of an alert on both of their wrist communicators echoed through the module drew their attention, cutting him off, the universal call John used for summoning them all together in situations other than emergencies.

“Looks like I won’t be getting that rest after all,” Gordon sighed, turning with Kayo and heading out of the module and over to the stairs up to the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who keeps coming back to comment, chat and read!
> 
> You're all amazing!
> 
> Just wanted to give a really special shoutout to MarsMckie who made this amazing art of Virgil and Tycho for the story! Thank you so much hun!
> 
> https://marsmckie.tumblr.com/post/171176055191/ive-been-really-enjoying-theladyfiction-s-tag
> 
> Still working hard on catching up, and writing drama is hard but I'll be moving things along soon :)


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saying goodbye is hard. Saying sorry is harder.

Watching Tycho pack up his things had been hard, but not as hard as it was watching him now pad along the patio in a button down white shirt and jeans, cases packed and ready to leave, Virgil thought as he carefully followed him out by the pool now dressed in his joggers and favourite lucky red shirt, dimly registering the vibration of his wrist comm.

He looked down, dismissing the message.

The inventor sighed as he looked down the patio to his gyrocopter, the sun blinding him a little. He placed his bags carefully on the floor, turning back to Virgil with a sad smile on his face, contemplating just forgetting everything and turning around, staying here forever and letting everything that was not in front of him fall to pieces.

“I don’t want to go,” he murmured, standing back up and moving to Virgil, wrapping him in a tight embrace. Virgil shifted a little, leaning his crutch against his side to free up both arms as he returned the motion, holding Tycho close to him.

“I know,” he breathed, pressing a soft kiss on Tycho’s neck as they fitted together. They pulled away from each other, completely lost in the moment they were sharing, unaware of Gordon and Kayo coming up down the stairs from the lounge behind them while their lips met, eyes closing as they shared a chaste kiss.

Tycho’s hands clutched at Virgil’s shirt. They broke apart after a moment, just breathing each other in, dragging the moment out.

“I’m gonna miss you like crazy,” Virgil admitted with a soft smile, eyes betraying his sadness.

“Me too,” Tycho replied, sliding his hands down to Virgil’s as the larger man shifted again, putting his weight back on his crutch. “I’ll call as soon as I get back, okay? And we can talk about London next week.” He hesitated. “If you still wanted to come, that is?”

Virgil smiled, leaning in to peck Tycho on the lips once more.

“I’d love to,” he grinned, butterflies going wild in his stomach at the thought. “It’ll be… interesting.”

“That it will,” Tycho chuckled softly. “And hopefully have much less professional involvement from you this time.”

“Here’s hoping,” Virgil smiled, shifting back a bit. “You sure you’ve got everything?”

“If I haven’t it gives me an excuse to come back,” Tycho winked.

“You don’t need an excuse,” Virgil grew serious for a moment. “You’ll always be welcome here, any time.”

“Thank you,” Tycho said fondly, adoration in his eyes as he regarded the larger man. “I want to come back. As soon as I can. This place is… it’s beautiful,” he gestured around him. “And the company is a compelling reason too.”

Virgil smiled, bringing a hand up to cup Tycho’s cheek, the inventor leaning into the touch.

“I love you,” he murmured, bringing their lips together again. Tycho whined softly, leaning into the embrace.

“Love you too,” he breathed against Virgil’s lips as he broke the kiss, eyes stinging. “I really don’t want to go.”

“You have to,” Virgil sighed, “as much as I hate to admit that. And it won’t be long. I’ll be in London before you know it.”

Tycho gave a weak smile, suddenly catching sight of Gordon and Kayo behind them. He nodded to them, drawing Virgil’s attention. The pilot turned carefully, an embarrassed smile crossing his face as he caught sight of them.

Gordon rushed forward suddenly, moving towards Tycho.

“You’re leaving?” he asked, a little surprised. Tycho nodded sadly.

“I am, unfortunately.”

“Not because of me?” Gordon asked quickly, hands shaking. “Look, I’m sorry about last night, I was really tired, and I wasn’t thinking straight. I shouldn’t have… just, please, don’t feel like you have to leave because of me, I…”

“Gordon, it’s fine,” Tycho reassured him. “It’s not you. It’s… business. There have been some issues with the board of my company. I’m just going to sort them out.”

“Oh,” the blonde replied, flushing a little. “Well I’m still sorry,” he smiled weakly. “I acted shitty last night. I owe you my life. I hope you know that.”

Tycho grew shy, averting his eyes to his feet.

“I’m glad I could help, really. It’s nice to make a real difference. And I’m glad you’re okay,” he replied softly, lifting his gaze back to Gordon and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, about last night, as well. I can’t even imagine being that tired. You did great, considering.”

Gordon gave him a watery smile.

“I like him, does he have to go?” he directed at Virgil, who smiled sadly.

“Unfortunately,” he sighed, reaching for Tycho hand. The inventor took it immediately, dropping his hold on Gordon and squeezing his lover’s grip.

“Hopefully I won’t be too long, we’ve still got lots of work to do here. I was hoping to catch up with Brains before I left, actually.”

“No such luck,” Kayo offered from behind him. “I think he finally decided to sleep like a normal person about midnight, and he’s still crashed out, judging by the noises coming from his room. But I can pass on any messages you want to leave him?”

“No, it’s fine,” Tycho smiled at her warmly. “Thank you for the offer though. I’ll drop him an email when I get back. This has all been a bit… sudden.”

Virgil gave him a sympathetic look, sighing as he looked to the gyrocopter.

“Are you sure you don’t want a lift back? I’m sure we can get you there faster.”

“True, but I need to drop this baby back at my ranch,” Tycho smiled. “Maybe next time?”

“What’s going on?” Scott’s voice suddenly echoed from across the room as he descended the stairs, looking to the four of them gathered on the patio.

Virgil turned sharply, fixing Scott with a glare. Kayo’s posture immediately stiffened, ready for any confrontation that might happen. Gordon shifted uncomfortably behind her.

“Nothing,” Virgil snapped at him, sensing Tycho’s demeanour change with his. “Tycho has to leave for a bit. We were just saying goodbye.”

“Oh,” Scott mumbled, moving forward slowly. “I hope it’s not because of…”

“Not everything is about you, Scott,” Virgil said flatly, turning back to Tycho.

“Call me as soon as you get back, okay?”

Tycho nodded, looking at him warily.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Virgil nodded, forcing a smile, defiance rising up through him as he leant forward again, kissing his lover softly. Tycho smiled into the kiss, cheeks heating up.

“Have a safe flight. You need anything, you call us straight away, understand?” Virgil murmured as he pulled away. Tycho nodded in response, gazing down at his and Virgil’s linked hands, drawing a shaky breath as he raised their joined grip to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Virgil’s hand.

“Love you,” he mumbled against the skin.

Tears began to prick at Virgil’s eyes. This was so much harder than he thought it would be.

“Love you too,” he murmured back, seeing Scott still advancing out of the corner of his eye.

“Wait,” Scott cut in as Tycho let go of Virgil’s hand and moved to pick up his cases once more. “I’m sorry, if it’s me, I’m sorry. Please, don’t leave because of what I did. I… I was wrong. Gordon told me what you did, how you saved him. I was so wrong.”

Tycho turned to him, a flash of fear crossing his face. Virgil didn’t miss it, and it lit a fire in him, a deep need to protect Tycho burning.

He moved himself between his lover and his eldest brother, Scott’s advance stopping as he did so.

“Stay away from him,” Virgil hissed, eyes ablaze with an anger barely controlled.

“But…” Scott began, hesitating when he registered Virgil’s look. “I just wanted to… apologise.”

“Yeah, you’re doing that a lot,” Gordon huffed from behind him, earning him a sharp look from Kayo.

“Boys, not now,” she warned them, Scott registering her words and backing away.

Behind Virgil, Tycho relaxed a little, picking up his cases and moving to his craft, closely followed by his lover.

“I’m sorry, for all the tension I’ve caused,” he murmured sadly as he threw his bags into the passenger seat of the ship. “I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry.”

Virgil was a little taken aback, putting a hand on his shoulder, stopping his movement.

“None of this was your fault,” he reassured him, “everyone’s got a lot to work out. This would have happened, one way or another. Don’t ever think it was you, and don’t ever apologise. We’re family, we fight all the time. It’s kind of how we cope,” he admitted with a weak smile.

“I just hope you’re all okay,” Tycho sighed, sitting on the side of the chopper, hanging out the door. Virgil moved closer, pressing himself against the slimmer man. “I’m not from a big family but I know how… distressing these arguments can be.”

Virgil sighed, a pang of self-pity hitting him.

“I wish sometimes I was an only child,” he joked with a sad smile. “But we’ll be fine. Think we’re going to be having a long overdue talk soon enough.”

“Tell Scott I understand,” Tycho urged him. “I don’t want him feeling bad about this. He deserves some peace.”

“He doesn’t deserve anything,” Virgil countered sharply, sighing when Tycho frowned at him. “Alright, alright. You’re way too much of a soft touch, you know that?”

Tycho grinned a little, leaning forward to peck Virgil on the lips again.

“Yeah, but you love it.”

“I do,” the pilot smiled in return. “And I love you.”

“So you keep saying,” Tycho grinned. “Not that I’m complaining. This is… it might be moving fast, but I’m glad of this. I really am.”

“Me too,” Virgil sighed. “Just wish you didn’t have to go so soon. You’re going to be late,” he remarked, looking at the sun rising into the sky.

Tycho returned his sigh, shifting himself into the gyrocopter reluctantly.

“I’ll see you soon, yes?” he smiled at Virgil, eyes shining.

The pilot swallowed the growing lump in his throat as he nodded, beginning to step back carefully, leaning on his crutch as he did.

“Call me,” he said, forcing a smile.

Tycho nodded fervently as he reached over to the door, shutting it with a loud clang.

He took a deep breath, beginning his pre-flight checks and starting the engine, gaze flickering to Virgil who had moved back up to the pool.

A sharp pang ran through his chest, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in some years as he looked down on his lover, wishing he could bring him with him.

It would only be around a week until they were together again, but the fear, the loneliness and the cold he felt without him, the idea of going to bed without him, waking up without him next to him was genuinely upsetting.

He pushed all of these thoughts down as he began his take off procedure, the gyro above him spinning up and the body of the craft beginning to lift off. As he lost contact with the island, he knew, he’d left a part of himself behind with the muscular man he saw waving him off from the patio.

 

*-*-*

Virgil fought back the tears trying to escape as he watched Tycho’s gyro head off into the distance, becoming a tiny spec on the horizon in no time. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. His head was spinning, emotions beginning to overwhelm him as the realisation that Tycho was gone, was not going to be here and the fact they were not going to be together for at least a week settled over him.

He felt a hand on his back, resting there as a deep sadness settle on him, breaking his resolve a little. Turning his head, he looked to Kayo as she gave him a soft smile.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concern in her tone.

“I will be,” he gave a short nod, grateful for her presence. “It’s just… hard.”

“I can’t imagine,” she admitted, looking to the sky, Tycho now completely out of sight. “Did I hear him say something about London?”

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed. “I’m probably going to go visit him, for the Hypertube re-launch next week. As…” he hesitated, “as his date. At this party he’s throwing.”

“Wow, that’s big,” she smiled. “I’m happy for you both.”

“Me too,” Virgil replied, turning a little as she broke her contact with him, both heading back towards the house. The sound of the space elevator docking alert sounded on all of their comms simultaneously as he looked back towards the kitchen, seeing Gordon and Scott both look at theirs, confused.

“John’s here?” Gordon asked as they made their way up the patio and into the alcove.

Scott opened his mouth as if to say something, ignored by Virgil as he passed him, heading to the stairs.

“Would seem so. I’m heading up. Need to… clear my head. Tell him if he needs me I’ll be up there.”

“Virgil,” Scott began from behind him, reaching a hand out to get his brothers attention. Virgil span a little too quickly, regretting it as pain shot through his knee.

“Save it,” he snapped.

Scott’s face dropped, eyes downcast as Virgil made his way to the stairs, beginning to pull himself up just as John emerged, running from the hangar entrance stairs, still dressed in his space suit.

John marched towards Scott with intent, a fire in his eyes.

He barely nodded as he passed Gordon and Kayo, heading straight to his eldest brother. Scott opened his mouth, about to say something when John cut him off.

“My proximity sensors said Tycho’s just left. Did he leave because of you? What did you say?” he asked, tone holding more anger than any of them could remember hearing from him before.

“John, he didn’t,” Virgil called back from the stairs, turning to face him. John shook his head.

“Do you realise what you’ve done?” John continued, ignoring his brother. “Do you even care how much damage you’ve caused? How much you’re still causing?”

Scott shook his head.

“You didn’t need to come all the way down here to tell me I fucked up, I know this,” he admitted. “And I’m trying to…”

“Yesterday was wrong,” John snapped, “really wrong. It was a bad call.”

“I know, okay?” Scott shouted, balling his fists at his side. “No-one is going to let me forget! What the hell do you all want from me?” he asked, turning to look at Virgil, then Gordon and Kayo in turn before turning back to John. “Do you want me to step down? Do you want me to leave? What is it you all want? Yeah, I fucked up, badly. And I’m fucking sorry, okay?”

“Sorry isn’t good enough,” John said flatly, glaring at him. “Sorry wouldn’t have been enough if Gordon had been killed.”

Behind him, Gordon stepped forward as if to say something, Kayo putting out her hand to stop him as he advanced. He stopped in his tracks, closing his mouth.

“Don’t get involved,” she murmured lowly to him.

“But he wasn’t… he’s fine,” Scott shook his head, looking behind John to his younger brother. “Everyone is fine.”

“Only because Virgil put himself in danger,” John growled at him, stepping closer. “Only because he put himself in danger to help him, because he dragged a _civilian_ into the midst of it all. Tycho had to operate one of our pods with no training, no help. He threw himself into danger because _you_ made a shitty call. What would have happened if _Tycho_ had been hurt or killed?” John continued, getting angrier.

On the stairs, Virgil shuddered a little, a cold shiver running down his spine at the thought; the fear had been there the whole time they’d been on scene, but Scott was right, in a way. Everyone was okay, nothing had happened. John had a right to be angry but he was losing control a little now.

“John,” he said softly, turning to lean on the bannister, “it’s done. Everything’s okay. We can talk about this to stop it happening again but there’s no point on getting angry over what’s already done.”

John turned to him with a confused look on his face.

“So you’re taking _his_ side now?” he asked, furious as he gestured to Scott. “After he put you and your… Tycho in danger?”

“It’s done,” Virgil reasoned, taking a careful step back down the stairs. “It’s over. Like I said, there’s no point in…”

John snarled at him, looking back to Scott as he drew his hand back into a fist which connected with his brother’s mouth, _hard_.

“John!” Gordon shouted, rushing forward to pull his brothers apart. On the stairs, Virgil inhaled sharply, shocked at the scene as Scott fell backwards onto the patio, catching his head on the concrete, John moving to straddle his waist with his hands either side of his head.

“You are not fit to be in charge,” John hissed in his face. The rage he’d felt building in him since yesterday finally spilled over. He barely restrained himself from raining punches down on the older man who stared up, blue eyes wide with shock at the aggression from his usually calm brother. “You _ever_ do something like that again, I will make sure you never fly again, understand me? Where the hell do you get off putting us all in danger? You’re _just_ like dad.”

“John, get off of him!” Virgil demanded, moving back over as quickly as he could, Kayo doing the same. They both reached down, slipping their hands onto his arms and pulling John up by his bicep. The slimmer man complied with little resistance, eyes still fixed on Scott where he lay on the patio, processing everything that had happened.

“You’re not him,” John spat. “No-one wants you to be. Stop treating us like he did.”

“John,” Scott began, cut off as his brother leant back down restrained only by Virgil’s hand on his shoulder from getting right into his face.

“Shut up. Just _shut up_. You… just fuck off,” John span around, almost toppling Virgil as he did so, storming past his brother. He paused when he noticed a figure frozen ahead of him; Alan was stood, wide eyed and fearful near the bottom of the stairs to the lounge.

All of their attention turned to him as they realised he was there, having seen everything.

“Alan,” John began reaching a hand out in his brother’s direction.

The younger man looked over the scene in front of him; Scott laid on the floor, his lip beginning to ooze blood, John in front of him, chest heaving, bruised fist from punching Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Kayo all looking on in shock, unsure what to do. Looking back to Scott, then to John, he turned tail, back up the stairs and fled, suddenly terrified by what he’d seen.

John was _never_ angry; if Virgil was the calm and level headed one, John often made him look like a raging volcano. Seeing that side of him, the anger and hate he’d directed at Scott was truly scary.

“Alan!” John called up after him, moving to follow. He turned to Scott sharply as he did. “See what you’ve caused?” he shouted before turning to sprint up the stairs after his younger brother.

Scott didn’t respond, still laid out on the patio, blood trickling down his chin as his lips began to tingle with pain, his body finally catching up on what had happened.

Virgil looked to Kayo and Gordon, both stood in a little bit of shock still; none of them could remember ever seeing John behave the way he had. He was not a physical person, in any way. The violence was alien.

“Are you okay?” Virgil offered softly, the sight of blood triggering his instinct to help as he reached his free hand down to Scott who regarded it, confused.

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted, taking Virgil’s hand as Kayo came to the other side of him, helping to support him as he stood up with their help, head spinning.

Across the other side of the room, Gordon had moved to the cupboard behind the kitchen units, pulling out a first aid kit. As he approached with it, Scott tried to steady himself, shaking his head.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, nausea washing over him.

“You’re not,” Virgil snapped. “Now come with us. You need to sit down.”

Scott didn’t protest, allowing himself to be guided to the kitchen table where Gordon drew out a chair for him, gesturing for him to sit. Kayo guided him down, Virgil hovering until she cleared a space for him to sit down next to his brother.

Once Scott was comfortable in the chair, Gordon placed the first aid kit on the table and opened it, taking out a sachet of medifoam and an antiseptic wipe. He tore open the wipe, warily approaching Scott and pushing his chair out to get a proper look at him.

His older brother looked up at him, eyes swimming with hurt and guilt, so much so it bought a lump to Gordon’s throat.

“I’m sorry,” Scott murmured, echoing his words from earlier.

“Stay still,” Gordon instructed him, concentrating as he dabbed at Scott’s lip, clearing away the blood to get a good look at the wound. The lip had split cleanly, at least. “Virg, can you open the medifoam for me?”

“Sure,” Virgil replied, reaching across and grabbing the sachet off the table, ripping it open and handing it to Gordon as he remained in place, applying pressure to Scott’s lip.

“Guys, I’m gonna go up after John,” Kayo said as she stood up, heading for the stairs. “Don’t want him doing anything stupid.”

“Define stupid,” Virgil asked, concerned.

“Just… anything right now,” she replied, frowning.

“Okay. You need any help with him, you let us know, yeah? I don’t think he’s acting like himself right now.”

“Of course,” she smiled weakly, bounding up the stairs, leaving the three of them alone at the table.

“This is gonna suck for a second, okay?” Gordon told Scott, keeping the wipe in place. “I’m going to swap this over on the count of three. Close your mouth, the medifoam tastes like shit and will _not_ make you feel good if you swallow it. You understand?”

Scott nodded slowly, looking a little numb as he pursed his lips together, creating a seal.

Gordon took a breath, counting to three before removing the antiseptic wipe and squeezing the medifoam sachet enough to expose some of the contents, pressing it immediately against Scott’s cut lip.

Pain seared through the area as the liquid expanded, drawing the two sides of the cut together and creating an antiseptic seal, the skin tingling as the chemicals caused the cells to go into overdrive.

“There, all done,” Gordon announced with a weak smile, backing away from Scott who nodded in response.

“Did you hit your head when you fell?” Virgil asked from behind him, automatic in his actions as he clapped a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Scott flinched a little at the action, taking a steadying breath as he shook his head.

“Don’t think so,” he murmured. “You two don’t have to… why are you helping me? I thought you were angry.”

“We are,” Gordon responded immediately, frowning. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t care. We’re just… fuck Scott, you really did a number on us yesterday.”

“And the day before that… and the day before that,” Virgil smiled, a hint of humour in his voice.

Scott turned to look at him, giving him a weak smile.

“I don’t know how many times I can say it, but I really am sorry,” he sniffed, words a little slurred from the restricted movement of his bottom lip.

“I know,” Virgil admitted, his anger towards his brother fading. Scott’s impulsive nature had often been at odds with his own, calm demeanour, but when it came down to it, he owed him a lot, and he loved him dearly.

Gordon regarded his brothers with an awkward smile, knowing they had a lot to talk through.

“I’m going to go get this thrown out,” he waved the used parts of the med kit in the air as he stood up, “then see if Kayo’s managed to find John and calm him down. You guys gonna be okay?”

Scott looked at Virgil, questioning. The larger man sighed, leaning his crutch against the table as he settled into the seat.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” he replied with a soft smile. Gordon nodded, gathering up the med kit and heading up the stairs.

“I’ll shout if we need you,” he called over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs, leaving Scott and Virgil sat at the table in silence.

Scott turned his chair around, facing his brother as Virgil let out a sigh.

“I…” the older man began, but Virgil held up his hand, silencing him.

“You’re an idiot,” he stated, no room for argument. Scott closed his mouth, dropping his eyes to his lap.

“I know,” Scott admitted. “I… I’m scared. Every day, I feel less and less like myself. Like I’m… losing control.”

Virgil watched him carefully as he spoke, watching the emotion in his eyes shift.

“Last night, I kept thinking, ‘what would dad do’ but… Grandma told me, when I spoke to her, how he… he didn’t always get it. The damage he could do to us. That he did do. We were… we’re still so young. I forget that sometimes. I forget how… Alan’s just so… he looked so young last night. And I remembered how we all used to pile into bed together, how we used to be a… a real family. Before mom. Before…”

“He wanted you to be him,” Virgil admitted, “since we were young. I remember when he used to come a drag you away when we were playing, teach you about all this military stuff, and when you cried he used to tell you to grow up. It wasn’t fair. None of us thought it was then. I don’t think that ever changed.” Virgil hesitated, thinking back to the film he and John had seen together, how Jeff had spoken about Scott.

“He meant the best for us,” Scott cut through his line of thought. “He always wanted to be able to guide us, to see our strengths and help us achieve the best we could. He wanted us to excel, to have the best future we could.”

“The best future for _him_ ,” Virgil protested, “for his legacy, the family name. You remember how we used to have to dress up in those awful matching suits whenever we had company over, all his military friends, and he used to boast about how we’d all shown promise in things. They used to talk, he’d plan our futures in front of us with total strangers.” A flash of anger ran through him. “I loved dad, but there were times… you remember when I applied to art school and he took the painting I’d done of mom and snapped it in half?”

“No,” Scott breathed, eyes shocked. “When was that?”

Virgil thought for a moment, trying to ignore the anger which still pulsed through him.

“When I was about nineteen, just before we moved here. I’d spent _weeks_ painting this portrait. Mom had sat for hours, modelling for it, and she loved it. She was going to hang it in the living room. And when he found out I’d been doing that instead of doing all the studying for medical school like he’d told me to, when he found out it was going to be in my portfolio for college, he took it outside, snapped it in half and told me I wasn’t allowed to paint until I’d decided on a _real_ job.”

Scott sat, a little dumfounded.

“I knew he didn’t approve of the art side of things but I… Is that why you switched majors? Went to tech instead?”

Virgil sighed, nodding sadly.

“I threatened to leave and he threatened to cut me off. At least at Denver there was an art and drama school next door. Mom and I were going to tell him, one day. That was the reason I had to leave for so long; he thought I was just taking longer than average to graduate. Truth was, I was doing two degrees. Ended up coming away with an advanced engineering masters and a PHD in classic art.”

“Seriously?” Scott asked, astounded. “How? That’s… you did two degrees at the same time?” Virgil nodded, smiling awkwardly.

“It was tough but… I loved it. Turns out I loved engineering more, just didn’t know it, but the art was always a huge part of my life. It’s… it helps me cope. But I don’t know if I ever would have forgiven him for smashing that portrait. Mom was furious.”

“I’ll bet,” Scott nodded. “She always loved your art, ever since you were young. You know you have a real talent, right?”

Virgil blushed a little. He knew he wasn’t exactly terrible but with the hits his self-esteem had taken over the years, he was a little loathe to admit his gifts.

“I mean… they’re okay,” Virgil murmured, embarrassed.

“They’re great,” Scott continued, enthusiastic. “Seriously. You’re awesome. Virg.”

“I’m just glad dad let me put up a few around the house when I came back. At least I felt like I was contributing. When you were away doing military training and John was doing his comms major, I… it felt like, when you guys would say you liked it, like I was helping, even a tiny bit.”

Scott nodded, a little sad.

“I’m sorry he did that to you,” he admitted slowly. “If I’d know, I would have stopped him. Dad could be… hot headed. He didn’t always think things through. Must run in the blood.”

“Tell me about it,” Virgil grinned at him, knowing. Scott averted his eyes again.

“I really am sorry. About Tycho, and yesterday. I speak before I think, a lot,” he said softly. “I was really wrong. And sounds like I was wrong about Tycho, too.”

Virgil hesitated, unsure if he wanted to get into this right now, with Tycho having left not fifteen minutes ago, the pain of watching him fly off still stinging in his chest.

“I heard what you said to each other,” Scott admitted. “That you… love him? Is that…” he paused, trying to think of the right way to phrase it.

“Moving too fast?” Virgil finished for him, sighing heavily. “Yeah. We both talked about that. There’s just… neither of us can explain it. There’s something there, something neither of us has felt in a long time. We know it’s crazy, moving this fast but…”

“Hey,” Scott smiled softly, “mom and dad only knew each other for six _weeks_ before they got engaged. Not that that’s a challenge to beat or anything,” he smiled softly. “But… love… it has a funny way of, I dunno, finding people, I guess. And…” he hesitated, drawing a deep breath. “If you’re happy, I’m happy for you. I’m just… really scared. After what you went through before…”

“After what I put you through,” Virgil cut him off, tone suddenly sad. “You think I don’t think about it nearly every day? Scott, I dragged you down. I took so much from you, and it wasn’t fair. I was so lost. And I would have stayed lost if it wasn’t for you.”

Scott looked up at him, tears beginning to prick at his eyes once more.   
“There were times I didn’t know if you’d come back. You were in such a dark place. I know we didn’t talk it through then, and I’m sorry I haven’t spoken about it since. I just… I remember going to Alaska, to rescue some people from an ice road with Gordon and Alan, wondering if you’d still be alive when I got back. I spent the whole time worrying about it, not concentrating, wanting to get things done as soon as I could so I could get back to you, to make sure you were okay. I…”

“I’m so sorry, Scotty,” Virgil choked, tears rolling down his cheeks now, the impact of his brothers words hitting him like an axe to the chest. “I never meant to… fuck, I didn’t know I… I just wanted it to end. I just wanted to… to forget and…”

“It’s okay,” Scott reassured him, standing up and shuffling closer, putting his arms around Virgil’s shoulders.

His brother let out a sob, wrapping his arms around Scott’s waist, both men letting their tears flow.

“I’ll never, _ever_ let anyone hurt you like that again,” Scott sobbed, pulling Virgil’s face into his chest. “I wanted to kill that fucker, I still do. If I ever see him again, I’ll fucking do it. You never deserved that, you never… we love you, Virg. I love you so much,” he repeated, pulling back to look down on his brother, eyes still swimming. “You take so much for all of us, you’re always there and, I’m sorry I can’t be as strong as you but I tried, god, I tried so hard.”

“I love you too,” Virgil sniffed, pulling Scott back into a hug, just wanting to hold his brother. “I’ve fucking missed you,” he admitted. “We all miss you. You’ve been so weird lately. We just want you back.”

“I know,” Scott choked, nodding. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so stupid. I just don’t want you all to worry. I don’t want you all to have to make these decisions. When people die on my watch, it’s on me, none of you have to live with that.”

“No-one’s died,” Virgil reasoned, releasing his grip and pushing Scott away a little, looking up to him. “Nothing bad has happened to anyone. Well, except me, but that doesn’t count.”

Scott raised an eyebrow, sniffing through his tears and giving Virgil a weak smile.

“You do count,” he murmured. “You count most of all. We’re… it’s tough without you. You have no idea how many times I called Gordon ‘Virgil’ last time we went out. He was so pissed.”

“I bet,” Virgil smiled weakly. “We really do miss you, Scotty,” he continued, growing serious. “Don’t ever feel like you have to make these decisions on your own. We’re all here, we’re a team. Don’t feel like you have to be dad.”

“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before,” Scott chuckled. “Northern lights ringing a bell?”

Virgil smiled, dropping his hands to his lap.

“Tycho’s different, you know,” he said softly, staring at his hands as he laced his fingers together. “He’s not… Jason. He’s…” he paused, thinking of the right way to describe their relationship. “He _knows_ me, without even trying. He knows what I need, how to calm me down, everything. It’s like we’ve know each other for years. And he’s…” he paused again, reasoning with himself that Scott really _didn’t_ need to know just how good in bed he was.

“I like him. I really do. He’s… nice,” he sighed, unable to think of a better word. “And he’s survived _you_ and didn’t run away. So I think I can call that a win.”

Scott chuckled a little sadly.

“I did apologise, you know, more than once. I know that doesn’t make up for it but… I want to like him. I really do. Seeing you two together this morning, yeah. Something definitely… fits. You two look so right together. Like… I dunno how to explain it.”

“Me neither,” Virgil admitted with a smile. “It just feels right.”

“You make a cute couple,” Scott grinned. “And I’ll… I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but… I’ll try. I’ll try and stay out of your way. I want you to be happy. It’s important to me.”

“You know I’m not going looking for that kind of hurt again, don’t you?” Virgil asked him, eyes earnest, open. “You don’t think I’m trying to get hurt? Because I… I don’t want to go through that, and I _really_ don’t want to put anyone else through that again. I don’t think I could cope with it, in all honesty. But Tycho is…”

Memories of Tycho’s body surrounding him, his moans and the soft sound of skin on skin as he’d fucked him earlier in the morning flooded his brain, raising a flush to his cheeks. Fuck, he was missing him already.

“He’s right,” Virgil reasoned, “If that makes sense.”

“It does,” Scott smiled reassuringly. “I get it. And I know you’re not stupid. I guess I’m just… scared.”

“Same here,” Virgil smiled back. “But whatever happens, I know we’ll have each other’s backs.”

“Always,” Scott grinned, placing a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. The larger man reached up his hand, squeezing his brother’s grip gently.

“You’re still an idiot, and we still need to talk to Gordon about yesterday,” he sighed softly, “but I love you. And I forgive you. And Tycho does too. He was telling me off for being so hard on you the past couple of days.”

“He was?” Scott asked, a little taken aback. Virgil nodded.

“He’s an understanding guy. He really is. But he’s scared as well. The way he looked this morning when you appeared, I… guess I’m not the only one with baggage.”

“I saw that,” Scott admitted. “I haven’t seen that kind of fear in such an ordinary situation before. Do you… do you think he’s been hurt by someone?”

Virgil’s eyes grew dark at the prospect.

“It’s always a possibility,” he replied slowly, “but I hope not. He’s so sweet. I don’t understand how anyone could ever hurt him.”

“Everyone said the same about you,” Scott sighed.

“Maybe we’re just meant to be then,” Virgil gave an awkward smile. “Two broken people putting each other back together.”

“Kind of romantic when you put it like that,” Scott grinned, nudging his brother.

“Hey, I’m a romantic kind of guy!”

“Sure you are,” Scott chuckled. “But no offence, I _really_ don’t want to hear about that. I mean, I’m happy for you and all but I don’t want… you know. Details.”

“Fine by me,” Virgil laughed, nudging Scott back. “Although I do have a favour to ask, about next week, if you do want to make all this up to me.”

“Oh?” Scott asked, curious.

“I need a lift to London. A fast lift, if you get my meaning.”

“Thunderbird 1 taxi service?”

“Thunderbird 1 taxi service.”

Scott sighed, giving Virgil an easy smile.

“So, where will I be taking you, m’lord?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting into the swing of things again now!
> 
> Distracting myself from my *awesome* chest infection right now with writing as I've been signed of work, yay of yays lol.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the resolution of Scott and Virgil's argument!
> 
> Brothers are adorable. Got some *seriously* interesting stuff coming up in the next couple of chapters, very intrigued to see what people think!
> 
> So here's a question to help me judge how many people I'm gonna upset lol
> 
> What's your favourite pairing in the TAG fandom, no matter its popularity?
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Dani x


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graphic depictions of graphic m/f sexual activity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to preface this (hopefully not too jarring for some chapter) with a little info:
> 
> I don't often write ships I don't really buy into, but after looking at the situation, I felt that John X Kayo was a natural progression for this story (sorry all those Alan/Kayo shippers!). Also, I'm torn between asexual John and him being a very sexual person; both theories hold as much water for me as the other.
> 
> Please don't feel like you have to read this chapter if it's not your thing (it's not going to be *really* integral to the story), but for those of you that do, thank you and I hope you enjoy!

 

“Alan!” John shouted as he sprinted up into the lounge, looking for his little brother.

The smaller blonde was no-where to be found, no sign of him anywhere.

“Al, it’s… not what you think. Please come out, I want to talk!” He looked around the room, contemplating the stairs up to the bedrooms as he heard footsteps echoing from there.

“Alan?” he asked, moving towards them, Brains coming down from the top with a confused look on his face.

“John? You’re b-back! Is everything ok-kay?” he replied, looking far too put together for having just woken up.

“Have you seen Alan?” John asked immediately, ignoring his question.

“N-no,” Brains eyed him suspiciously. “Why, w-what’s happened?” he looked down to John’s hand, still balled into a fist, seeing the bruises on his knuckles. “Your h-hand!” he exclaimed. “What’s…”

“Nothing,” John snapped. “I just need to find Alan.”

“Okay,” Brains moved out of his way slowly. “Well, u-upstairs might be a good place to s-start, I think I heard a d-door.”

“Thanks,” John murmured, heading up the stairs swiftly. Brains watched him go, still confused by the interaction.

“What w-was that about?” he mumbled to himself, shaking his head as he moved to the stairs down to the kitchen, hearing voices from there.

He had only taken one or two steps when Kayo came bounding up the stairs, looking a little harried.

“Morning Kayo,” he greeted with a smile. She looked up at him, returning the gesture weakly.

“Morning, Brains,” she responded, tone civil but flat. She was obviously on a mission. “Have you seen John at all?”

Brains sighed.

“Yes, he was looking for A-Alan,” he replied. “I guess s-something has happened, seeing as you’re all r-running around l-looking for each other?”

“It’s a long story,” Kayo said, giving him an apologetic look.

Brains nodded, sighing again.

“T-talking of seeing people, you haven’t s-seen Tycho, have you?” he asked as she went to leave. She paused, looking back to him.

“Tycho had to leave a few minutes ago,” she said, obviously wanting to get away, to find John. “He said he’d email you, but Virgil’s downstairs if you want to know anything else.”

“Oh, okay,” Brains said, a little surprised. “That was s-sudden.” He turned to look at Kayo again, finding her having gone on her way already, leaving him alone on the stairs.

“W-what is going on this morning?” he asked himself, trying to figure out why Tycho would have left and why everyone was acting so weird.

*-*-*-*

“Alan!” John demanded, hammering on his younger brother’s bedroom door. He’d found the entrance locked, trying the handle several times. There was no sound from the other side, but given that it was bolted from the inside, he figured the younger man had to be in there. “Alan, please! I just want to explain. I’m not angry at you.”

“Go away, I don’t want to talk to you,” came the small response from the other side of the door.

“It wasn’t what it looked like,” John reasoned. “Please, just open up.”

“You punched Scott,” Alan spoke quietly, voice shaking. “Why did you punch him?”

“I was angry, okay?” John snapped, “I still am. He put Gordon in danger. He was wrong.”

“And punching him makes everything right?”

“No, I just…” John slowed down for a moment, his anger beginning to ebb away, leaving a trail of guilt and regret in its wake. His mind wandered to his eldest brother downstairs, if he was okay. “I was just so angry.”

“Are you angry at me?”

“No, Al. I could never be angry at you.”

“Are you going to hit me too?”

“No! Why would I… Al, are you okay?”

There was a beat of silence, John leaning against his brother’s door. He heard soft sounds from the other side, a snuffling sound. Alan was crying.

“I hate you guys fighting,” came the soft reply, barely audible. “Please don’t fight any more.”

“Al, open the door,” John begged, feeling worse than he ever had in his life.

“No,” Alan responded. “I… please leave me alone.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I didn’t mean to hit Scott, it just… sort of happened. I didn’t…”

“You’re all acting like dad,” Alan replied from behind the door with a sniff. “You’re all being horrible to each other and fighting. I don’t want this. Please go away.”

“John,” a voice echoed from down the corridor; Kayo, coming to find him no doubt.

“Al, please, I’m sorry,” John leant his head against the door as Kayo moved next to him, a concerned look on her face.

There was silence from the other side of the door. Frustrated, John hit the wooden frame with a closed fist, letting out a growl.

“John, back away,” Kayo instructed him, firm but calm.

“What have I done?” John asked her, closing his eyes as the rush of events played through his mind.

“Punched Scott and terrified Alan, which you’re still doing. Now let’s go. We need to talk,” she continued, sliding her arm around his back and pulling him away.

John protested for a moment, desperately listening for any sign that Alan was going to open the door, finally acquiescing when he realised Kayo definitely had the upper hand.

“That’s it, let’s go,” she ushered him on, towards the smallest bedroom in the house, tucked away in the corner of the corridor. From the outside, it might have looked like a closet, had it not been for the steps leading up once the door was opened.

She guided him inside, up the steps to his bedroom, the room still littered with books and blueprints from his last lot of leave, belongings scattered everywhere. It was a far cry from the clinical tidiness of Thunderbird 5.

The skylight above looking up into the clear blue sky was mostly blocked by a blind, causing rays of light to spill across the floor and unmade bed.

John had selected this room specifically, when given the choice, as it sat as the highest point of the main building (not including the watch tower used as Thunderbird 3’s launch and docking ring). The skylight meant that, by placing his bed in the centre of the room, he could gaze up at the stars all he liked at night.

It had been his favourite place in the world until the day Jeff had taken him up to Thunderbird 5 and he’d fallen in love with an entirely different view of the stars.

Now, the room felt cold and sad, matching his demeanour.

“You want to talk?” Kayo asked softly as John huffed, sitting on the bed. He shook his head, burying his head in his hands.

“I just got so angry. I never meant… my hand hurts,” he remarked, stretching it out with a grimace.

“I’ll bet,” Kayo smiled weakly. “You’re not built for fighting.”

John snorted.

“Ain’t that the truth,” he sighed. “I’m sorry for freaking out. And Alan… god knows that kid is going through a lot right now, and I’ve just made it worse.”

“He’ll be okay,” Kayo reassured him, sitting down on the bed next to him and taking his hand in hers, examining the knuckles for any serious damage. “He just needs some time to cool off and process. Like we all do.”

“I guess you’re right,” John sighed, wincing as Kayo tried to stretch one of the muscles between his fingers.

“You’re hand’s fine,” Kayo smile softly at him, “just going to bruise like hell.”

“Yeah, I thought as much,” John returned her smile weakly, looking down to their joined hands. Kayo did the same, both of them looking up at the same time; their faces flushed a little as they ended up mere inches away from each other.

Kayo let out an uncharacteristic chuckle, using her free hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a move that was almost calculated in how innocent it made her look.

John just watched, fascinated at how the rays of light in the room fell onto her face, illuminating her cat like eyes.

A little uncomfortable, Kayo went to pull her hand away from John’s, only to be stopped by his hand tightening on hers, moving up to her wrist, holding her in place.

She didn’t react, holding his gaze. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips as he continued his eye contact with her.

She’d always been fascinated by his eyes. They were different to Scott and Alan’s, more a teal green, notes of grey in them. They looked like a storm brewing over a tropical paradise, intense and scary if you didn’t know a place of safety.

“John,” she began, tone questioning as the older man continued to look at her, adrenaline pumping through his system from his encounters downstairs, “what are you…”

He cut her off as he moved forwards, using his grip on her wrist to pull her closer as he brought his lips to hers, the movement catching her off guard.

She stayed still as he kissed her, his lips silky smooth and so soft on hers, his free hand finding its way to her shoulder, holding her close as his mouth moved against hers. His actions were enticing, and before she could catch herself, she found herself kissing back, eyes closing as she lost herself to the moment.

Her hand found its way to his thigh, the material of his suit textured over firm muscle. She slid her hand up, unthinking as they turned more towards each other. John let out a soft groan as she moved, Kayo’s tongue slipping out as he did so, touching his.

The action sent a shock through John, seeming to bring him back to reality. He pulled back as if electrocuted, eyes suddenly wide.

“Fuck, Kayo, I’m sorry,” he murmured, releasing her hand and standing up, physically shaking. “I… I don’t know what happened, I’m…”

“It’s okay,” she reassured him, her own heart hammering in her chest. “I shouldn’t have… it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” he shook his head. “I’m not… thinking straight. I’m sorry I… did that.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Normally, he’d never act on impulses like this; he’d always had a small crush on Kayo, since they were younger. She’d been there for him a lot, her sleep pattern more closely matched to his than anyone else on the island meant that the times he was feeling lonely, needing contact with someone other than EOS, needing to speak to someone closer to home, she was more than often the one he went to.

He couldn’t deny he hadn’t thought about doing this, but the reality was a bit of a shock; the desire he felt now caught him off guard.

Kayo similarly was taken aback, the kiss igniting a smouldering feeling inside her. She’d always found John’s awkward flirting somewhat endearing, but never thought to act on it until now. His lips on hers seemed to have unearthed something she’d kept buried for a long time, something bubbling just under the surface now erupting.

She wondered if all the emotions running high on the island had something to do with it, putting it down to the instability the past couple of weeks had bought. But somewhere deeper inside her, she felt a pull, a nagging feeling that this had been dwelling in her longer than she would like admit.

A moment of silence hung between them as John stood, looking down on her, his chest heaving as he drew in deep breaths, trying to regain his composure.

This was a turning point, she realised, wondering what Jeff would think of this, of the woman he’d invited into their lives, saved from being groomed and turned into a weapon by her uncle seducing his sweetest boy as she reached down to the hem of her top, pulling it off in one swift motion, exposing her sleek black bra and toned stomach.

John froze, staring.

“W-what are you doing?” he asked, confused by her actions.

“Let’s call it ‘stress relief’,” she replied coyly, her hands shaking as she reached for him, pulling him back towards her. John relented, allowing himself to be grabbed and guided towards the bed, trying not to stare at her breasts as she pulled him down with her, their lips meeting again as she wound her arms around him, shifting herself to lay on the bed.

 John moved with her, laying himself on top of her and gasping as her hands went to the back of his suit, pressing the release catch at the top of his neck. The suit began to slip away from his back, her hands sliding underneath the material and peeling it away from his body, exposing his pale skin to the cold air of the room.

A shiver ran through him as the suit slipped loose, leaning himself up to pull it away from his body, off of his arms and away.

Kayo lay back, watching as he stood and divested himself of his suit, revealing his entirely naked body, planes of toned muscles and perfectly smooth, firm skin.

“I always wondered what you wore under that suit,” she admitted, biting her bottom lip as she watched him undress, desire replacing the uncertainty she had felt mere minutes before as the suit was tossed carelessly onto the floor, covering the books that rested there, abandoned.

“Can’t wear anything underneath,” he explained breathlessly. “Any lumps or bumps might break the seal and compromise it being airtight. And that would be a problem.”

“Well I see a bump that might cause a serious issue,” she giggled, trying not to stare at his now rather impressive, erect cock as he stood before her, framed by the dark curls there.

He rolled his eyes, trying to cover up the nerves he now felt coursing through him as he looked down on her, eyes contemplative.

“You’re wearing far too much,” he announced, “considering…” He gestured down at his own nakedness, unashamed, which surprised her. She’d almost been expecting him to be too shy to be like this around her, completely bare in more ways than one.

“I agree,” she nodded, shifting her hips up and beginning to push her jeans down, catching her thumbs on her underwear as she did so. Soon she was kicking everything off of her feet, feeling more exposed than she thought she would as John’s gaze turned hungry.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, voice soft and calm, familiar in its security. A shiver ran over Kayo. She had thought about this, more than a few times. But seeing him here now, naked and wanting her as he moved smoothly to the bed where she laid, similarly naked and waiting for him, so real and ready, there was a flash of doubt that ran through her.

He waited patiently as she thought things through, a torrent of thoughts and ‘what ifs’ running through her mind.

Finally, she nodded, taking a shaky breath.

“I do,” she confirmed.

John’s response was immediate. He moved back to the bed, settling himself over her body as she opened her legs, welcoming him closer to her. He shivered as he pressed himself close to her, his weight a welcome feeling against her body; when she’d come up after him, she’d never imagined this would be the outcome, much less planned it.

Cyan gaze met golden, both of them closing their eyes as their lips met once more. John’s touch was so soft on her body, bracing himself on one arm while his free hand moved to her neck, holding her close as he moved against her. She let out a gasp, not used to this kind of attention from anyone.

He took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, flicking it against her lips.

Kayo surprised herself with the moan that escaped her, her body reacting to his touch, arching against him. John grinded his hips against her, the weight of his cock pressing against her crotch, teasing her.

“Fuck,” she gasped into the kiss. John pulled back, a wicked grin she’d never seen on his face as he began pressing kisses to her chin, moving swiftly down to her neck.

He focused his attention on the sensitive skin, pressing butterfly kisses there. Kayo bit back a moan, arching against him again, surprised by her own need for him.

The trail of kisses continued south, reaching her chest, John’s hands moving to her shoulders and slipping her bra straps off, moving them down, the rest of the material coming loose. Kayo shifted to sit up, reaching behind her back and undoing the clasps easily, slipping the piece off of her arms and throwing is across the room, exposing her rounded breasts, peaked nipples.

John pushed her back down, hands moving to her nipples, pinching and pulling gently.

Kayo moaned at the touch; it had been a long while since someone had touched her like this, and she’d forgotten how pleasurable it could be.

John’s lips continued their journey south, his hands moving to her hips as his mouth reached her stomach, pressing kisses to the taut muscle there.

“John,” Kayo called breathlessly, suddenly nervous as his hands slipped down to her thighs, spreading her legs a little more and his kisses reached her navel.

“Yes?” he asked, all too innocent as he looked up at her from where he now rested, still pressing kisses into the sensitive skin above the dark curls that covered her crotch.

“What are you…” she began, her breath hitching as his hands pushed her thighs even further apart, opening her up for him.

“Just relax,” he cooed up to her. “Trust me.”

She nodded, pressing her head back into the pillows behind her as he shifted himself down, between her legs.

A lump of nerves formed in her throat; this was a new experience for her. For all of the times she’d been intimate with someone, it had often been in search of information, part of a mission. It had never been about her, her pleasure.

She inhaled sharply as John settled himself, looking up her body from his position between her thighs, a wicked smile on his face as he pressed his mouth onto her, planting a soft kiss over her clit.

The feeling sent a shock through her body, pleasure radiating from the spot he touched. He slipped his tongue out, licking a stripe over her clit, making her gasp and arch her back.

“Sensitive, are we?” he chuckled lowly, his calm demeanour now completely returned.

He felt in control again, back to himself as he flicked his tongue against her.

Kayo let out a louder gasp, her hands finding their way to John’s hair, fingers twining themselves into the firey locks.

He let out a soft groan at the sensation, getting back to work and drawing a slow pattern across her most sensitive spot.

“Fuck,” Kayo breathed, her mind a mess. Previous situations like this had always called for her to forego a lot of her own pleasure, focusing on everything that could go wrong at a moment’s notice. But here, now, with John, she felt safe and secure, finally able to let go and just experience the moment as he sped up his actions a little.

A rush of electric arousal ran through her entire body, centred on her clit as his tongue continued its assault, drawing delicate patterns over the sensitive nub.

She arched again, hips moving against his mouth, the action only seeming to spur him on as his grip on her hips tightened, not holding her but almost encouraging her movement.

“John,” she whimpered, the crashing waves of pleasure building in her overwhelming her senses. Hearing his name from her lips made him increase his speed, fingertips digging into her hips hard enough to leave bruises.

She bucked her hips again, the action causing John’s tongue to slip off of her clit for a moment before he moved himself back up, never breaking contact.

“Fuck!” she half cried, the pressure sending another jolt of arousal through her. The tingling she felt radiating from her clit began to spread outwards, warming her entire body. It was so intense, more so than she’d felt before, the feeling almost scary as her orgasm built inside her, wanting to burst at any moment.

She wanted to fight, to push it down, even to ask him to stop as the intensity built, taking away her ability to think clearly.

“John,” she whimpered again, unable to process words. Her hands tightened in his hair, drawing a moan from the older man. “Don’t stop,” she begged him, now lost to the feeling, the words spilling out without thought.

John smirked against her, keeping his motions fluid and steady, relishing in the feeling of her bucking and arching against him. He felt powerful, reducing someone as put together as Kayo to the writhing mess he saw in front of him now.

Kayo lifted her legs a little, feet coming to rest on John’s back as she felt the tingling sensation rise through her entire body, barely keeping control.

“Fuck, John, I think… I think I’m close,” she admitted, the feeling new, terrifying in its intensity.

John broke away from her for a moment, looking up to her face, her eyes blown wide with pleasure. Knowing that he’d got her there was almost enough to send him over the edge.

“Don’t hold back,” he instructed her. “Just relax and let go. I’ll take care of you.”

She nodded, throwing her head back against the pillow, losing herself to the sensation as he began his assault on her clit again, hands still holding their bruising pressure against her hips.

His tongue flicked and flitted against her, drawing its patterns, pressure perfect as she felt the tingling feeling extend to her feet.

Like the crest of a wave, she felt her pleasure begin to crash down, the muscles in her legs tightening, entire body reacting to John’s tongue as her orgasm began to overtake her.

“John, I’m… gonna cum,” she breathed, arching her back again, desperate to keep the contact of his tongue on her.

He didn’t respond, eyes fixed on her face as he continued his actions, watching as it screwed up in pleasure. A long, loud moan escaping her as her entire body tensed as her orgasm finally hit her. Soft whimpers began to escape her as John slowed his actions, letting her ride it out.

Her feet pressed into his back with a little more force as her body processed the pleasure running through it, her clit twitching underneath his tongue.

She took a deep breath as her orgasm came to an end, letting out a soft hiss when his tongue touched her clit again.

“John,” he urged him, using one of the hands in his hair to drag him up a little, breaking the contact. “R-really sensitive,” she explained, face flushed and chest heaving.

John smiled up at her softly.

“Sorry,” he murmured, shifting himself away from her. She released her grip on his hair as he did so, watching with a renewed hunger in her eyes as he slipped back up her body, pressing his weight against her.

She may have just cum mere moments before, but feeling of his body against her, the weight of his cock resting against her thighs again had her needing him inside her.

“You still want to do this?” John asked, breathlessly as his face came level with hers. She leaned up to kiss him, his chin soaked with her juices. She let out a moan as she swiped her tongue inside his mouth, tasting herself before she moved to his chin, licking him clean.

He let out a deep groan at the action, grabbing onto her wrists and pinning them above her head against the soft pillows.

She smirked, knowing full well she could probably get out of his grip if she needed to, but right now, she was relishing in the feeling of him taking control over her.

“Fuck me,” she breathed against his lips, wrapping her legs around his waist, urging his cock closer to her entrance.

“What about protection?” John asked softly, not wanting to break the moment but still very aware of potential consequences.

“I’m on the pill,” Kayo smiled back at him, grateful for his concern. “And I trust you. Now fuck me, please,” she bucked her hips, trying to take him inside.

Satisfied with the answer, John gave her a wicked smirk as he pressed himself forward, into her wet heat, finding her entrance in no time and pressing in slowly.

Kayo moaned, pressing her head back against the pillows once more.

She’d not expected John to have the girth he had, and now with him stretching her out as he pressed in, she was lost to the feeling, her arms still pinned under his strong grip as he filled her now, fully sheathed inside her.

“You feel amazing,” he said softly, eyes blown wide as he looked down on her.

She returned his gaze, completely lost as he pulled out a little, thrusting back in with a snap of his hips.

They moaned in unison, Kayo suddenly wishing she could grab onto his hips, to urge him forward. She needed more, more speed, more pressure.

She struggled against the grip on her arms, almost pleasantly surprised to find she was truly held in place by him, much stronger than he looked.

“If you fight, I stop,” John warned her as he snapped his hips, driving his cock into her hard. Kayo gasped at the action, caught off guard.

“Fuck, John, more,” she breathed, rolling her head to one side, exposing her neck.

John immediately took the opportunity to press his body against hers, his mouth going to her neck, planting soft kisses, gentle tugs of his teeth on the skin. It all drove Kayo wild, her nerves on fire as John continued to fuck her with a steady, strong pace.

“Please,” she pleaded after she adjusted to his pace, his lips still on her neck, “I need more, I need you harder.”

“I’ll tell you what you need,” John purred on top of her, leaving her neck and leaning back up, looking down on her with dark eyes.

A shiver ran through Kayo; she’d never heard John talk like this, behave this way. He was usually receptive to everyone’s needs, bending to their will when pushed. Knowing he could be this way, so firm and commanding, send a thrill through her entire body.

“What do I need?” she challenged, throwing her head back when John thrust into her, watching her intently as his cock pressed deeper inside her than she could ever remember anyone else being.

“You need to get on your hands and knees,” John growled, pulling out suddenly, the action leaving Kayo feeling open and exposed. She let out a whimper at the loss of contact as John shuffled back, giving her room to move. “Now,” he instructed, letting his grip on her arms go, his hands immediately moving to her hips and urging her to flip over.

Kayo complied, lost in the moment, in the feeling of being dominated. It was an odd sensation for someone usually so in control, but not unwelcome. After all the time she spent being on edge, handing herself over to someone else was surprisingly nice.

She did as she was told, getting onto all fours in front of John, bracing herself on her arms. A shiver of anticipation and hesitation ran through her, feeling incredibly exposed as she felt his eyes on her, admiring her ass.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” John purred, shifting himself to press his cock against her entrance, the change of angle giving a whole new level of friction.

She could only whimper in response, all rational thought leaving her as he pressed himself back into her, her body so accepting of him. He let out a moan as he pushed himself fully inside her again, throwing his head back as he did so. His hands found their place on Kayo’s hips, pulling her towards him as he surged forward, starting a punishing pace which left them both moaning at the sensation, the air filled with the sounds of their pleasure and the slap of skin on skin.

It didn’t take long at their pace for John to feel the familiar heat coiling in his stomach, his thrusts becoming a little more erratic as he fucked out all of his aggression and frustration, Kayo’s body so receptive and warm, her willingness to offer herself up to him one of the hottest things he’d experienced in a while.

He idly wondered how often he could start making excuses to come back to the island, if anyone would notice if the two of them disappeared together, if she was willing to let him do this more often than just this once.

The train of thought was cut short by the feeling of Kayo tightening around him; he’d been so lost in his own pleasure, he hadn’t noticed how close she’d been to losing herself for a second time.

Head tilted back, Kayo let out a long moan, arching her back as her second orgasm, more intense than the first, ripped through her, all of her leg muscles tightening almost painfully again, her hips shifting back against John, desperate to take him deeper as she rode it out.

Her shift of position created a new level of friction for John, the sensation pushing him over the edge. His orgasm hit him hard, hands tightening on Kayo’s hips as he thrust into her, as deep as he could, releasing himself inside her.

“Fuck, Kayo,” he groaned, unable to control himself as he thrust frantically, riding out his own orgasm.

Once both of their peaks had washed over them, leaving them panting for breath, John slowly removed himself from Kayo, being as gentle as he could. The younger woman shifted forwards, collapsing onto the pillows behind her as soon as he was free of her, heaving for breath as she looked to him.

John gave her a soft, reassuring smile as he crawled up to her, laying down and offering his arm, inviting her to cuddle up with him.

She hesitated for a moment, looking over his body, unsure if she should allow this to become more intimate, whether she should keep this as a casual thing. After all, cuddling was something couples did, right?

Her thoughts were interrupted as John grabbed her arm, pulling her over to him. She moved to him with no resistance, letting out a soft whimper when he wrapped her up in his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

The action melted her, all thoughts of keeping this casual seeping away.

She kissed back almost desperately, shocked by the need she felt to be close to him as his hands caressed her back, moving down her body and tracing her figure.

“Thank you,” he murmured, voice back to its usual calm and level tone. She looked at him, a little surprised.

“For what?”

“This,” he gestured to their joint nakedness, “for letting me… what did you call it? ‘Stress relief’? It’s definitely worked.”

Kayo smiled softly, ignoring the whir of her brain telling her to get him to commit to this, that once just wouldn’t be enough.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she replied smoothly, “I can’t deny I enjoyed myself as well.”

“I’m glad,” John smiled, not feeling nearly as awkward as he thought he would. “I just want you to know, this was… I didn’t intend for this to happen,” he explained, usual jitteriness returning a little now. “I don’t want you thinking I planned this. I would never…”

“Me neither,” she responded reassuringly. “I know you’re not like that. Even if neither of us planned this, I can’t say I’m sorry it happened.”

John smiled softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. Kayo responded in kind, returning the kiss with vigour.

“Just so you know,” John began slowly, selecting his words carefully, “I’m going to be finding myself a _lot_ more stressed than usual in the next couple of months. Think you can help with that?”

“Depends,” Kayo shot back, recognising the loaded question. “How easy is it to have sex in zero g? Can’t have you spending all your time down here.”

John let out a moan, images of them in Thunderbird 5, inside the gravity ring, pressed against each other played through his mind.

“Fuck, Kayo. This is… Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked softly, frowning a little. “I’ve got to be honest, John, there’s always been… something there. I’m not sure what, but it’s been there, and today… I’ve…” she paused, unsure whether she should go on. It wasn’t often she was this open with people. “I like you,” she finished, holding back some of her words. “And I want to… if this is something we both need, I’m more than happy to continue.”

“What if it’s not something I need as much as something I want?” John asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Or a little bit of both?”

“I could work with that,” Kayo smiled easily, letting out a gasp as John slid a hand onto her neck, turning her onto her back and hovering above her again, pressing his body down on her, her legs falling apart once more, welcoming him back.

“Good, because I want you again, right now,” John purred, leaning down to kiss her, pressing himself forward once more, completely lost as she moaned his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoosh!
> 
> I had to get this out asap because my anxiety was going cray cray over it!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it if you made it this far :)
> 
> Back to more drama next chapter!
> 
> Dani x


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon and Alan finally catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been commenting.
> 
> I'm glad there wasn't too much dissent about the previous chapter - as I said, you're more than welcome to skip it, and it might come up a couple of times, but it won't be too integral. Just using it to help explore both characters and the way they're developing in my mind. :)
> 
> Huge shout out to MarsMckie for this chapter: I told you it was coming :)
> 
> Also, huge thanks to everyone because I missed three huge milestones, firstly the 1 month anniversary of the story (yay!), 100,000 word count, 250 pages and over 1000 hits! I wouldn't have done any of it without you guys! <3

Gordon had looped back around the lounge, looking for Alan in all of usual hiding places before heading back up to the bedrooms, frantic as he looked for his little brother.

The shock of seeing John full on punch Scott in the face was still pulsing through him, part of him not wanting to believe what he’d seen.

He bounded up the stairs, heading towards Alan’s room when a low moan caught his ear, distracting him.

Cocking his head, he paused his steps, listening closely for repetition of the sound. A few moments later, he heard it again, a muffled, keening sound which sounded distinctly like a moan of pleasure. He shook his head, unbelieving as he began moving slowly towards the source of the sound, the door in the corner of the corridor leading up to John’s room, still slightly ajar.

Careful in his steps, moving his feet around all of the creaky steps he’d memorised as a child when he and Alan would sneak up to John’s room in the dead of night to lay with him and watch the stars, trying not to alert their parents, he began to head up the steps one at a time.

Another moan from above made him stop.

The sounds were definitely those of people in pleasure, both male and female.

Heart hammering in his chest, he ran through the options in his head, unbelieving when he narrowed it down; John and Kayo were the only two around, bar Alan, and it _definitely_ didn’t sound like Alan.

He continued creeping up, seeing the door at the top of the stairs cracked open, gasps and whimpers sounding from inside. Getting down on all fours, he continued to crawl upward, his brain telling him to turn around, to leave it and go and find Alan. But curiosity got the better of him as he reached the top of the stairs, slowly poking his head through the crack in the door, just wide enough to see in.

The sight that greeted him caused his eyes to widen; John’s naked form, covers up over his waist as he moved in a steady rhythm on top of Kayo, her eyes locked on his as he drove into her, leaning down to kiss her as he pinned her arms above her head. She responded enthusiastically, arching against him and whimpering his name, lost in the moment they were sharing.

Gordon barely held in a gasp, pulling his head back immediately, unsure what to do.

Adrenaline pumped through him. He wanted to barge in, demand to know what they were doing, how long it had been going on for. He heard their combined moans intensify, murmured words not audible to him.

Beginning to feel guilty for listening in to such an intimate moment, he slipped back down the stairs as quietly as he could, avoiding all of the creaking steps on his way down. Once at the bottom, he carefully closed the door behind him, wincing as it clicked shut, hoping the two of them were so caught up they wouldn’t hear it.

Once the door was closed, he moved to the wall, pressing his back against it and taking a heaving breath, processing what he’d just witnessed.

John and Kayo. Kayo and John. _Together_.

“What the fuck,” he murmured to himself, wondering if the whole island had gone crazy, whether someone had actually managed to infiltrate them and put something in the water supply, because this wasn’t _normal_.

A click across the hallway drew his attention; Alan’s bedroom door began to creep open, blue eyes looking out and scanning the hallway.

“Al,” Gordon breathed, pushing himself off of the wall and heading swiftly for his brothers room. Alan peeked out, eyes widening a little when he spotted him.

“Is John gone?” Alan asked, voice small and quiet.

“Yeah, he’s…” Gordon hesitated, unsure whether he should tell him what he’d just witnessed. “He’s not here,” he finished, offering Alan his hand. “Everyone is okay. They’re not fighting anymore.”

Alan rushed out of the room, curling his arms around Gordon before his brother had time to react, latching onto him.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Gordon reassured him, wrapping his own arms around him, holding him in a hug as Alan breathed heavily against him.

“I hate it when they fight,” Alan admitted, pulling away from the embrace. “John was so _angry_. I don’t… I know what Scott did was wrong but…”

“It’s over,” Gordon reasoned, one ear still listening out for any sounds from upstairs. He made the quick decision to usher Alan away, guiding him back towards the stairs to the lounge. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go check in on Scott. He could use a friendly face,” he smiled weakly, head still spinning.

Alan nodded, allowing himself to be guided away, completely oblivious to anything going upstairs, much to Gordon’s relief.

“Maybe they’ll have some food going,” Gordon distracted himself a little with the thought, “I’m starving. One bagel just isn’t enough!”

“Right?” Alan joined in with the conversation, voice still a little shaky but shreds of himself starting to come back. “Gordon… where is John?” he asked, sounding concerned.

Gordon hesitated, trying to think of a convincing answer.

“He’s… with Kayo,” he replied. It wasn’t technically a lie, he supposed. “They’re… working some stuff out.”

“Oh,” Alan replied, eyeing him with an odd look, a question in his tone as he spoke. “And by working stuff out you mean… sex?” he asked.

Gordon stopped dead in his tracks, wondering if Alan had heard something. His younger brother stopped with him.

“What?” Gordon asked, trying to seem more shocked than he felt. “Why would you say that? It’s John and Kayo!”

“Yeah, and John had a crush on her for like, forever,” Alan explained, coming out of his shell a little more. Gordon eyed him suspiciously. “He got drunk one night when he was here and told me,” Alan finally admitted with a soft grin, the smile slipping from his face almost immediately. “He wouldn’t hurt Kayo, would he?” he asked, sounding far too innocent again.

Gordon shook his head.

“No, they…” he caught himself in time. “He wouldn’t,” he reassured him. “Whatever they’re working out, she’s likely managed to calm John down.”

“I hope so,” Alan murmured, noting Gordon’s evasion but deciding not to press it. Gordon was as guilty as the rest of his brothers when it came to trying to shield him from things he’d already been exposed to. He’d known about John’s crush for a few years now, noticed his awkward flirting with Kayo. And yeah, he couldn’t deny he had a tiny crush on Kayo; she was close to his age, really good looking and so mysterious and cool.

But when he thought about it, like _really_ thought about it, he knew that he would never be able to get on her level, to keep up with her. Maybe in a few years, she could have taken him seriously, and he could have grown enough to have had a chance. But John and her… he’d never stand in the way of any of his brothers happiness, and after so long alone, in space and on earth, John deserved some happiness of his own.

Alan offered Gordon a soft smile as he began walking again, his brother keeping pace with him.

“So you going to tell the others?” he asked casually, side eyeing Gordon.

“I dunno man,” the taller blonde admitted, distracted as he rubbed the back of his head. “This is some heavy stuff. I mean, I never thought I’d see John of all people… and Kayo! I mean it’s…” He paused, catching himself too late. Alan grinned at him knowingly.

“You little fucker! You and your damn tricks!” Gordon frowned, lashing out an arm in an attempt to grab hold of Alan, who jumped out of the way, too used to his brother’s moves. “Don’t tell the others!” he said seriously, still frowning at the younger blonde.

Alan paused, cocking his head as he looked to him.

“Seriously? The gossip king is telling _me_ not to spread stuff around?”

“Yeah,” Gordon responded earnestly, eyes wide, almost fearful. “After everything that’s gone on with Virgil and Tycho, I don’t want this to get in the way of… I don’t want to see another relationship get threatened because of family drama.”

“Virgil and Tycho?” Alan asked, even more confused.

Gordon slapped a hand over his face.

“I forgot you didn’t know. Shit, yeah. Virgil and Tycho are sort of… seeing each other.”

“Oh man,” Alan grinned, “Virgil has a boyfriend! That’s great!”

“You’re not worried?” Gordon asked, taken aback by his response, dropping his hand from his face.

“Why would I be?” Alan replied with a shrug. “Virgil’s sensible. It’s been a long time, it’s nice to see him moving on. And Tycho seems nice. A bit weird, sometimes, but nice.”

“He is,” Gordon admitted, thinking back to the rescue; seeing Tycho above him, reaching down to grab him as he’d fallen. A shudder ran through him as the memory of fear washed over him.

“Grandma said he saved you,” Alan said softly as he began to walk to the top of the stairs, Gordon following.

“He did,” Gordon admitted. “I… don’t know what would have happened if they hadn’t have been there. Thank god Virgil never listens to Scott, huh?”

“She said they both stowed away aboard Thunderbird 2.”

“Yeah, in the sleeping quarters. I didn’t even know they were in there until about fifteen minutes into the flight.”

Alan giggled a little.

“You don’t think they were…”

“Eww, Alan, no,” Gordon shook his head. “I thought that too, but… no. At least I hope not. Don’t know if I could fly 2 knowing they’d done anything in there. Euch.”

“Yeah, that would be a little bit gross,” Alan agreed. “But everything worked out okay in the end, right?”

“It did,” Gordon smiled back at him, feeling a little bit more relaxed now. “And I’m sure everything will. Tensions are just running a bit high right now, for everyone.”

Alan nodded, growing serious.

“I hope Scott’s okay,” he thought aloud, looking down the stairs as they descended.

“He’s fine,” Gordon reassured him. “I patched him up before I came looking for you. We can go find him and you can see for yourself, if you want?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Alan nodded with a small smile, descending the rest of the stairs in silence, stomach still feeling a little uneasy but more settled than it had been.

 

*-*-*-*

“Morning gentlemen,” Brains greeted as he came down the stairs into the kitchen, eyeing the Virgil and Scott as they sat at the table, a little warily, noting the medifoam on Scott’s lip as the two men turned to greet him.

His eyes widened a little as he looked Scott over, thinking back to John’s bruised hand, putting two and two together.

“S-so,” he began, moving over to the coffee machine and starting his daily routine, “Is anyone going to t-tell me what happened this morning? F-from the looks of your face, J-John had some things to say, and I h-hear that T-Tycho has left the island?”

Virgil and Scott looked at each other, both inhaling as if to speak.

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed, looking back to Brains as he rummaged in the cupboard for his favourite mug, a huge, barrel like one with faded text what spelled out some quadratic equation wrong, only correct when it was filled with coffee, an in joke which he loved. “Yesterday’s rescue seems to have gone viral.”

Scott looked at him, confused.

“Come again?” he asked.

“Oh, I forgot you don’t watch news either,” he admitted. “Someone from his work called this morning, business manager or someone and we turned on the news. Turns out someone in the pod in Russia filmed him being part of the rescue, and now his business has taken a hit. The board of his company are doing something, and they needed to talk to him, or they were taking over control. Something like that,” he slumped his shoulders, remembering Tycho’s concern at the prospect.

Brains took a sip of his coffee as he listened to the pilot, wincing at the heat of it as it burnt his tongue a little.

“That’s n-not good,” he sighed.

“Seriously?” Scott asked, frowning, “I hate people.”

“Me too,” Virgil agreed, a dark look on his face. “But he’s had to go back and make a formal statement. News made it sound like they’re expecting one from us, as well.”

“From us?” Scott asked, confused again.

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed, “like, to either confirm or deny he’s a part of International Rescue. I dunno how this all works, to be honest,” he admitted. “I’ll talk to him later. Whatever happens, I think we all need to be on the same page with this.”

“That might explain why I got six messages from various people at the GDF last night,” Scott sighed. “And there’s me thinking they just want to review our operations license again.”

“They p-probably will after this,” Brains admitted thoughtfully. “Tycho is a civilian, it was a p-pretty dangerous situation he w-was in.”

“You don’t think they’d suspend us over something like that?” Scott asked, concern written over his face.

“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted, trying to be reassuring, “but you know there are some people who would latch onto something like this. Try and use it against us.”

“Fuck,” Scott mumbled, shifting his chair back to stand. “I guess you’re right. I should probably go and answer those messages then. And here’s me thinking we might have a quiet day.”

“Is there such a thing on this island?” Virgil offered with a weak smile, one which Scott returned.

“Guess we’ll never know,” the older man sighed, moving to head up to the lounge, stumbling a bit as he stepped, his head still spinning a little. Virgil reached out, grabbing his arm to steady him.

“Whoa, take it easy,” he instructed. “Are you going to be okay on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Scott replied after a moment, taking a deep breath in. “Just a combo of this morning and… I think I actually got some sleep last night. Think it’s throwing me off. My body is in full revolt,” he chuckled lowly.

“Just take it slow,” Virgil said, fixing him with an intense gaze. “I’m serious,” he frowned when Scott raised an eyebrow, releasing his grip on his older brother. “Everything will be okay. We’re all here if you need us. Take it easy and relax, okay? Everything will work out.”

Scott looked to his younger brother with a hint of adoration in his eyes, smiling.

“Thanks, Virg. Brains, I’ll catch you later,” he smiled at the engineer.

“Y-you’ve got it,” he replied with a wave, watching along with Virgil as the older man vanished up the stairs, noting how he clutched the hand rail tighter than usual.

A beat of silence fell between Brains and Virgil as the engineer made his way over to the table, sitting in Scott’s now vacated chair.

“Do you want one?” Brains gestured to his mug.

Virgil shook his head with a soft smile on his face.

“Naw, I’m good thanks,” he sighed. “Not been huge on coffee recently. Don’t know if it’s my painkillers or what but it makes me feel a bit queasy.”

“I was m-meaning to ask how your knee is doing,” Brains gave him a sympathetic look. “Is it s-still painful?”

“Sometimes,” Virgil admitted. “Pushed myself a bit yesterday, so that probably didn’t help.”

“S-Sorry I wasn’t in contact the whole t-time,” Brains said, flushing a little. “I was going through read outs with M-Moffy when the call c-came in. You know how we g-get.”

“Yeah, I understand getting caught up,” Virgil replied with a knowing grin. He was glad that Brains was finally spending some time actually talking to Moffy, rather than skirting around her, getting flustered and being unable to express himself.

Ever since the incident with the Centurium 21 and the awkward kiss they’d shared in his lab, he’d been more confident in his interactions with her, visiting more often, calling her most nights, but recently this had become a little bit of a distraction, unable to say no to her, so scared she would not want to talk to him if he kept cutting her off.

“You know she’d understand if you had to go, right? She seems really nice, I don’t think she’d get angry.”

“I k-know,” Brains sighed, dropping his head a little. “I just get s-so worried about it. I’ve never been this c-close to her before; to anyone, in fact. I don’t want to r-risk losing her.”

“Ah, young love,” Virgil grinned, giving him a faux wistful look. “I remember when I was your age…”

“I’m only two y-years younger than you,” Brains frowned at him, missing the joke. “Wait, you’re k-kidding, aren’t you.”

Virgil smiled at him, almost apologetic.

“Yeah, I am,” he chuckled. “Really, I’m happy for you. You two seem to get on really well. I’m glad you’ve finally found someone on your level.”

“Thank you,” Brains smiled awkwardly at him, going to take another sip of his coffee. “T-talking of being happy, how are thing w-with you and T-Tycho?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant, though his eyes were focused on him, watching his reaction carefully.

Virgil gave a sad smile as he thought about the other man, his chest still aching at his departure.

“They’re… good,” he said slowly. “It’s still early days, but… I think this is serious. He’s… he’s great,” he chuckled, a little awkwardly, still trying to find the right words to describe their relationship. “It’s a shame he had to go.”

“It is,” Brains admitted with a soft sigh. “I was h-hoping to catch up with him t-this morning.”

“He said he’d be in contact when he got back,” Virgil reassured him. “He didn’t want to leave.”

“I’ll bet he d-didn’t,” Brains gave a sly grin over his mug as he went to drain the remainder of the hot liquid.

Virgil gave a snort of laughter, feeling lighter than he had done in a while, even with Tycho having just gone, after his chat with Scott, everything now out in the open, for all of them and knowing that he would be seeing his lover again in under a week, everything felt like it was getting back on a level.

“Honestly, Brains,” he chastised him gently, “whatever vulgar thoughts you’re having, you can put them right out of your mind.”

“I don’t have to i-imagine anything,” Brains grinned back at him, “the l-lovebites on your neck are doing all the t-talking.”

Virgil flushed brightly, shrinking into himself a little as his hand went up to the skin just above the join of his shoulders and neck, rubbing the marked area, a pleasant shiver running through him.

“A-and Kayo is right, you know,” the engineer continued with a wicked grin, “if you two want to be i-intimate inside Thunderbird 2, y-you might want to close the m-maintenance hatch, or I’ll end up having to b-borrow some of Gordon’s awful m-music to drown you out. The h-hanger echoes, you know.”

Virgil was sure he was bright red, his face heating up almost uncomfortably.

“And you know t-those seats will stain, d-don’t you? G-got to be careful!” Brains chuckled, enjoying winding the pilot up.

“Shut up,” Virgil murmured, grinning like an idiot, still not used to having this easy a relationship with talking about his personal life but enjoying it none-the-less.

Footsteps on the stairs caught his attention, causing both of them men to turn and see who was there.

Gordon and Alan came down the stairs, the youngest Tracy still looking a little shaken.

“Hey, you two,” Virgil greeted them with a smile. Alan returned the gesture, a sigh of relief leaving him as he made his way over to the table, coming up behind Virgil and wrapping his arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

Virgil smiled at the action, bringing one of his hands up to rest on Alan’s forearm where it rested across his collarbone, giving him a quick squeeze.

“You doing okay, kiddo?” he asked gently, Alan not relenting in his hold on him.

“Yeah,” he mumbled as he rested his chin on Virgil’s head. “I’m okay. This morning has just been weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Gordon sighed from behind him, moving to the kitchen and beginning to rummage through the cupboards, looking for snacks. “Man, I could really go for some pancakes,” he grumbled as he pulled out some celery crunch bars and crisps, empty the contents off the shelves in search of something he fancied. “Why did Tycho have to go again? His pancakes were awesome.”

“Tycho’s gone?” Alan asked, breaking his hold on Virgil to move backwards, into the empty chair at the end of the table.

Virgil nodded, sighing again as he turned to his youngest brother.

“Yeah, someone filmed him being part of the rescue yesterday and it’s gone viral. It’s caused some issues with his businesses that he has to sort out now.”

“Shit, that sucks,” Gordon said from across the room, a concerned look on his face. “Someone filmed inside the pod though? I bet Scott’s pissed.”

“He’s not b-best pleased,” Brains nodded solemnly. “Did you n-not see him on the way up?”

Gordon shook his head, looking to the engineer with a concerned look on his face, wondering if there was going to be another blow out this morning if Scott had wandered back up towards their bedrooms and heard what he had. A shudder ran through him at the thought.

“Gordon, are you okay?” Virgil asked, drawing his attention, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Yeah, just tired,” Gordon lied. Virgil saw right through it, eyeing him suspiciously.

“So tell me about yesterday!” Alan chirped from behind him, pulling his attention away from the older blonde as he went back to the cupboard, still rummaging. “I want to hear what happened.”

“Okay, okay,” Virgil smiled, placating the young man as he practically bounced around expectantly.

He began to tell him everything that had happened, Gordon interjecting occasionally, the older man throwing concerned looks at his younger brother, distractedly wondering how to corner him and find out what had thrown him off so badly.

*-*-*-*

“Scott, this is a serious issue,” Colonel Casey snapped from the holographic projection in the office space.

They only ever took calls in here when they were too sensitive for everyone to overhear. It wasn’t often, but now was one of those times.

“You can’t be dragging civilians into these situations with you, they’re not trained and if anything happens, we can’t guarantee they wouldn’t be able to take legal action against you.”

“This is not going to become a regular thing, I can assure you,” Scott replied sharply, his patience already wearing thin. “We’ve had some… personnel issues. That’s the only reason this happened.”

Colonel Casey’s demeanour suddenly shifted, her professional stance relaxing somewhat as concern crossed her face.

“And what does that mean exactly?” she asked, voice softer now, one he recognised from his younger years, when she would come to visit Jeff to talk business. She’d been a close family friend for years, and they owed her a lot. Scott was reminded of that every time she became like this, genuinely concerned for their wellbeing.

In the wake of Jeff’s disappearance, it had been her reassurance and guidance that had helped keep International Rescue going as the boys had all found their feet, settling into new roles, more responsibilities, more decisions to be made.

“Virgil had a nasty incident recently,” he explained with a sigh, a shiver running through him as he remembered finding him, face down and bleeding. “He dislocated his knee and is out of action until it heals. It’s been causing some issues with everyone’s sleep patterns and just… you know. Family drama. The usual.”

She gave him a sympathetic look, sighing.

“Look, Scott, I’m running damage control here; I’ve got to go to the world council this afternoon and explain your position, make it clear that this will not happen again. Do I have your word that this will be the case?”

“Of course,” he replied sternly, “as I said, this isn’t going to become a regular thing. He was only there because…” he hesitated, remembering his father’s words about honestly and admitting mistakes. It was good advice, even if he hadn’t always followed it himself. “I made a bad call. And it won’t happen again.”

“That’s a brave thing to admit,” she praised him, drawing a soft smile to his lips. “And I trust that you’ve learnt from it. Unfortunately, the World Council will want an explanation, and the world media is calling for an official statement to be made by both you and Professor Reeves.”

“I know,” Scott sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “We’re waiting for him to make contact. We want to make sure we’re all singing from the same page, as it were, in terms of what we’re going to tell people.”

Colonel Casey cocked an eyebrow.

“You mean he thinks that he _is_ a member of International Rescue?” she asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

“No. The situation is… complicated.” Scott hesitated. “He’s… personally involved with a member of the team,” he admitted slowly, gauging her reaction.

She smiled, a professional, cut motion, managing to keep her personal feelings under wraps.

“That does complicate things a little,” she admitted, “so maybe it is best that this is discussed internally before its made public. We will be expecting a statement within the next 48 hours though, you realise that?”

“Should be enough time to get everything sorted,” he smiled weakly. “Thanks for your help, Jo. Sorry, Colonel,” he corrected himself.

She smiled at him fondly.

“You know I’ll do everything I can to help you boys out. Honestly, I don’t know what we’d do without you sometimes.” A loud siren sounded from her end of the call, drawing her attention to somewhere out of range of the projection. “That’ll be my ride,” she sighed, “I’ve got to go. But keep me updated. And let me know when you’re about to make the statement. I’ll make sure the right people are paying attention.”

“Thanks again,” Scott nodded as the call cut out, falling back into the large plush office chair behind him, trying to clear his head.

One thing on his list down, now a million others to deal with.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consequences are a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg sorry for the long break, work has been a nightmare and I've been fighting off the remains of illness!
> 
> Sorry if this is a bit rushed, I wanted to get something out as soon as I could without compromising content! 
> 
> I'm off to visit my mum for Mothers Day so writing will be a bit sporadic but will get back into it soon!
> 
> Thank you for your patience <3

 

“So, you going to tell me what’s eating you?” Virgil asked as the crept up behind Gordon where he stood on the patio, gazing out over the ocean, surprisingly stealthy for a still using a crutch.

He knew it must have been something big; Gordon was rarely this quiet.

The younger man threw a look back into the kitchen where Alan and Brains sat at the kitchen table together, animatedly discussing potential upgrades to Thunderbird 3 that Brains had been developing for some time.

He let out a long sigh as he looked back to his older brother where he leant on his crutch, looking at him with real concern on his face.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Gordon murmured, afraid he would be overheard.

Virgil’s face grew serious for a moment, his mind spinning through everything that Gordon could possibly be this concerned about.

“You haven’t knocked up Penny already, have you?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Gordon frowned at him, shaking his head.

“What? No, no… This is… well I would say it’s worse than that but… me, as a dad? Right now? Yeah… that would be terrifying. No… I…” he paused, looking back out over the ocean, trying to find the words to explain what he’d seen.

Drawing in a deep breath, he turned his gaze briefly back to the house, making sure no-one else would overhear before moving back to face Virgil, leaning in a little closer to him.

“Earlier,” he all but whispered, causing Virgil to shuffle a little closer, not wanting to miss a word, “when I went to find Kayo and John, I was in the corridor and I heard… noises… coming from John’s room. So I stupidly went to see what it was and… John and Kayo were… in there… together.” He looked at Virgil, waiting for a response.

The older man gave him a quizzical look.

“And?” he asked, expecting some dramatic revelation, somewhat disappointed by Gordon’s admission. “They were in his room… and…?”

Gordon shook his head, frowning.

“ _To-geth-er_ ,” Gordon sounded out each syllable, staring at Virgil in disbelief as he looked back, still confused.

“I don’t get what the big deal is. They’re always hanging around each other.”

“No, Virg, you’re _really_ not getting this,” Gordon whined, catching himself as his voice raised a little, turning back towards the house to check for eavesdroppers. “They were… you know…”

Virgil shook his head almost apologetically, still a little lost.

“Sorry, Gordo, you’ve got me stumped,” he said with an awkward smile.

Gordon growled softly, frustrated. He put his hands together, threading his fingers through each other and sliding them back and forth, mimicking an intimate action, looking pointedly at Virgil who shook his head again.

“Still lost,” he admitted, growing a little embarrassed.

Gordon rolled his eyes.

“Oh for… they’re _fucking_ , okay? John and Kayo were _fucking_ upstairs, in John’s room, _fucking each other_ , oh my god! Learn some innuendo, jeez!” He threw his arms up in the air, turning back towards the house to see Alan and Brains looking at him, having stopped their conversation to watch him waving his arms about. He forced a smile back at them, giving an awkward wave as they went back to their conversation.

“You’re… you’re kidding, right?” Virgil asked him as he turned his brother to him, his eyes wide. “They wouldn’t… John’s not… I thought that…”

“Yeah, I thought he was not really into that too,” Gordon admitted with a sigh, slumping his shoulders. “But I know what I saw, and I definitely saw him and Kayo… uh, this is too much. I never saw John like that and now… I really need to invest in some brain bleach.”

Virgil looked at him sympathetically.

“Part and parcel of having brothers, champ. You’re gonna walk in on them doing stuff you really wouldn’t want to think about them doing. Hell, you know the amount of times I walked in on Scott before we moved? He had no boundaries as a teen.”

“Yeah, but it’s still gross,” Gordon complained, folding him arms. “And it’s _Kayo_. I always thought she had a thing for Alan!”

“Alan’s just a kid,” Virgil protested, frowning a little. “He’s… let’s just say I think he’d have a hard time being as serious as Kayo would need him to be. Besides, her and John have always had this weird… thing. She’s always talking to him and he seems more open with her than anyone else. I don’t see it being a problem, anyway. They’re both mature enough to make their own decisions.”

“Yeah but it’s still weird.”

“It is a bit. But we’ll get used to it.”

“Get used to what?” Alan’s voiced piped up from behind them, making them both turn sharply, sharing a look. They hoped he hadn’t overheard too much.

“Nothing,” Gordon said, a bit too quickly.

“Oh, you guys are talking about,” he leaned in, cupping a hand to his mouth and whispering in a very obvious, non-secretive way, “John and Kayo having _sex_ , aren’t you.”

Virgil immediately turned to Gordon, frowning.

“He knows?” he asked, a little annoyed.

“He tricked me!” Gordon protested, “It wasn’t my fault! He’s a sneaky little shit,” he finished, glaring at Alan.

Virgil looked at them both disapprovingly.

“As someone who has recently been on the receiving end of people getting involved in a relationship where it’s not welcome, I’m telling you both now, not a word to anyone, you understand? _Especially_ Scott. He’s got enough on his plate at the moment without worrying about this as well.”

His tone was firm, stern. Both of his younger brothers looked at him, chastised as he spoke, growing serious.

“We just thought it was a bit weird, that’s all,” Alan murmured, looking down at his feet. “We weren’t going to do anything.”

“Yeah, but I know what you two are like,” Virgil frowned, looking pointedly at Gordon. “And I mean it; no pranks, no joking around, no messing with this. Just… let it run its course. They’ll figure it out.”

“What do you take us for?” Gordon asked, offended. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt him. Annoy, maybe, but not hurt.”

“Not even annoying. Just stay out of it,” Virgil instructed firmly, shifting himself on his crutch to turn back towards the house as he heard footsteps coming back down the stairs.

Alan and Gordon turned with him, the younger man drawing a sharp breath when he saw Scott coming down towards them, hair ruffled as if he’d been running his hands through it. He looked stressed, more so than he could remember seeing him in a long time.

Without thinking, Alan sprinted over to his older brother, reaching him just as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs and launching himself at him with open arms.

Scott was caught by surprise, seeing only a flash of blonde, green and blue running towards him before he was almost knocked over, catching himself just in time and regaining his balance as his younger sibling latched onto him, hugging him tight.

“Jesus, Alan, warn a guy!” he chastised him fondly as the younger man clutched at him tight.

“Are you okay?” Alan asked as he pulled back, looking his brother up and down. Scott nodded, reaching a hand out to him.

“Alan, calm down,” he said softly, eyes tired but face soft as he regarded the young man, images of his sleeping last night, looking so young as he dreamt. “I’m fine,” he reassured him. “A bit sore but I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Alan sniffed, everything overwhelming him a little bit, eyes beginning to swim.

“Sorry for what?” Scott asked, pulling him back into a hug. “Hey, don’t do that. Everything’s fine, okay? See? We’ll work this out. Don’t get upset.”

“I’m sorry,” Alan whimpered again, pressing his face into Scott’s chest. “I don’t want you guys to fight.”

“I know,” Scott sighed, pulling back and ruffling his brother’s hair, drawing a smile from the younger man.

“Hey!” he protested loudly, now struggling to get away from Scott as he held him in place.

“Aww, what’s wrong Ally? I thought you wanted to give your brother a big ol’ hug?” Scott chuckled, moving to put Alan in a headlock, still ruffling his hair.

“Let me go!” Alan shouted, laughing, “seriously, Scott, let me go! Ow!”

Virgil and Gordon watched on with amusement, Brains chuckling gently from the table.

“Nice to see things are getting back to normal,” Virgil said softly, giving Gordon a fond look.

“Well, as normal as we get.”

“True enough,” the larger man smiled, turning back to look over the ocean, the sun now rising high into the sky as his thoughts turned back to Tycho, somewhere, out there.

*-*-*-*

It was well past 1pm when John jolted awake, nightmares of blood and fire and screams of terror pulling him from his rest.

It had been a long time since he’d fallen asleep in this room, he mused as he looked up at the skylight above him, the bright light of the sun spilling in a line dangerously close to his eyes.

He shifted, reaching an arm out for Kayo, memories of their encounter earlier running back through his mind. But as he reached, his hands met only cold, empty sheets.

Sitting up, he looked over his room, bleary eyed.

Kayo was gone.

A strange feeling settled in his chest, a hollow ache that made him feel a little bit nauseous.

He looked to his own suit, still crumpled on the floor where he’d removed it. A shudder ran through him at the memory of Kayo running her hands across his back, underneath the material.

Where was she?

He sat himself up, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated his options. Part of him really wanted to go and find her immediately, demand to know what was going on between them, but the more rational part of his brain was telling him to give her space.

Kayo was not known for being intimate with anyone, particularly not in this way and definitely not with people she held close. She might be scared, unsure, confused, he reasoned to himself, trying to ignore the swirling of anxiety in his stomach.

He himself was not an expert at these things; far from it.

Sure, he’d dabbled in college, but only because he’d come to think it was expected of him. He felt desire in the same way he’d feel hunger, a need to be sated whenever it arose. It wasn’t until he spent time with the man who would become his first real boyfriend that he’d develop any kind of sexual attraction to another person, to want them in a way he didn’t quite himself understand.

That feeling was there with Kayo, too. It had been since the first time they’d spent all night talking to each other, swapping horror stories of rescues gone badly, of their darkest fears and deepest regrets.

Since she’d listened to him, truly listened in a way he wasn’t used to, coming from a family of extroverts.

She _got_ him. She understood and she _cared_. Finding someone who did that for him was rare, but to have her fall into his lap, it was almost fate.

The very real situation hit him hard, sudden.

That could all be over now, the long nights, the never ending talks, consoling in one another, the mutual understanding… all because he couldn’t keep his needs in check.

He suddenly wanted to be very, very far away from everything on the island, to escape back to his own private bubble up in five.

Picking up his suit, he began to slide it back onto his body, reasoning that it was only fresh on this morning and that he’d be changing the moment he got back up, trying to ignore the anger, the frustration and fear creeping up his spine.

He’d run away, same as he always did when things got too much. It may not have been a good coping mechanism, but it was his, and it worked.

His thoughts turned briefly to Scott, how he’d attacked him earlier, and the thought gave him pause; he should go check on him, find him and apologise. And Alan… he still hadn’t had a chance to explain, to give his side, to…

A creak on the stairs caught his attention. He drew a sharp breath, muscles tense as he heard another, closer creak, indicating someone was on their way up.

His suit auto-sealed up his back as the footsteps grew closer. Holding his breath, he waited, the door creaking slowly open. Sally stood in the doorway, a tray full of angel cake slices and coffee in front of her, a reassuring smile on her face.

“I heard you were here,” she greeted him. “Welcome home.”

John breathed out, relaxing a little.

“Hey, Grandma,” he replied, forcing a smile. She gave him a sympathetic look.

“You look like you’ve been through a lot,” she said softly. “Can I come in?”

John looked around his room, the mess of books and belongings scattering the floor making it look like a bomb site.

“I promise I won’t even complain about the mess,” she grinned.

John sighed, gesturing for her to come in as he slumped back, sitting on the bed and dropped his hands between his knees.

Sally came into the room, carefully stepping around all of the items in her way, finally making it to the bed and sitting down, placing the tray between them.

“Were you running away from us again?” she asked softly, adjusting the tray to make sure it wouldn’t tip.

John sighed, opening his mouth to answer but finding his brain now willing to assist. Sally allowed him time, waiting for him to speak.

“I’ve… today has not been a great day for me,” he admitted slowly after a while. Sally nodded gently, reaching for a slice of cake and gesturing for John to do the same.

He looked down at the tray, knowing that if she’d gone through the effort of replicating angel cake (his favourite, and something which took the replicator _forever_ to make properly), she must have known something had happened.

“What time is it?” he asked as he hesitantly reached for a slice of cake. His mind began to spin, wondering what had happened in the time since Kayo had bought him up here to now.

“Just after 1,” she replied calmly. “Coffee?” she offered him a mug.

He nodded mutely, grabbing the mug from her and taking a sip, his thoughts so loud that, as she looked at him with sympathetic eyes, he briefly wondered if he was thinking at all or rather speaking them aloud.

“So you and Scotty got in a fight?” she asked, voice calm and even. She must have been preparing for this conversation for a while downstairs. “And before you ask, Alan came and told me. He’s fine too. A bit scared, but fine.”

John nodded, placing the cake he’d picked up back on the tray and sighing.

“It wasn’t a fight as much as… I hit him,” he admitted. “I wanted to come and talk, to make sure what he did to Gordon didn’t happen again, but when I saw him, I was just so… angry.”

Sally nodded, understanding his anger. John had inherited both of his parent’s tempers, and try as he might to keep them under control, sometimes that just didn’t happen, especially on days like today, when everything was running so high.

“I thought he’d made Tycho leave as well,” John admitted, “and Virgil looked so sad when I saw him, it all just… I lost control for a moment.”

“It happens to us all, kid,” Sally said fondly, reaching a hand for John’s. He almost snatched it away, an automatic reaction to people touching him when he wasn’t expecting it, but managed to catch himself. He let her cover his hand with her own, trying to be grateful for the contact but finding himself still wanting to run.

John had never been the most tactile person; out of his brothers, he’d always been the most distant from family, and while they made allowances for him, they were never sure how to interact with him in a way he was comfortable with.

“I need to tell him I’m sorry,” John mumbled sadly. “And Alan. And…”

“Kayo?” Sally offered, eyeing him suspiciously. He looked at her, a little shocked as he tried to gather the words to make an excuse, even as she gave him a knowing look. “Before you think the worst, I saw her coming out of here about an hour ago, and I know what a walk of shame looks like.”

“Oh,” he said dumbly, unable to defend himself, “Yeah. It’s… complicated. I think.”

“A lot of that going around at the moment,” Sally sighed. “Look, Johnny, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but you’re smart enough to know that you need to be careful in situations like this. If this goes wrong, it could throw everything off, for everyone here.”

“I know,” he said, a little frustrated at her being so calm and okay with this.

It would almost be easier if she was angry and shouting; that’s what Jeff would have done, told him how stupid he was and how it needed to stop and never happen again and how he needed to be responsible.   
  
_That_ he could deal with. He’d been dealing with it his entire life.

“It wasn’t planned. It just sort of… happened.”

“These things often do,” she sighed. “But that doesn’t mean they’re bad.”

She placed her own mug and cake onto the tray and looked at John with a serious look on her face.

“You need to talk to your brothers,” she said softly. “They’re all downstairs.”

“And pissed at me, I’ll bet,” John sighed, shuffling awkwardly.

“They’re worried about you,” Sally reasoned, “they know you’re angry, and they want to make it better. They want to talk to you.”

A deep sadness began to rise up in John, one that he hadn’t felt in a long time. The fear was omnipresent, a part of living with the life they had, but the sadness came and went.

It had truly begun when their mother had died, but over the years it had grown and grown. Now, it was like a monster, lurking in the deepest parts of him, waiting for the moment to strike.

Tears began to well in his eyes.

“I don’t want this anymore,” he admitted softly. “I don’t want to have to sit by and watch my brothers tear themselves apart, throw themselves into danger. It’s… it isn’t fair, on any of us. And Scott, he…”

The words turned into a choked sob as everything hit him like a tsunami, the fear, the sadness, the _anger_ overwhelmed him.

“He’s better than dad,” John snapped, furious now, at himself, at Jeff, at the world. “He’s so much better than all of us. He’s smart and he takes everything the world throws at him on his own and he shouldn’t _have_ to. He should… we should all have had a choice. We should all have been able to choose, but we weren’t and… it… it just sucks,” he half shouted, tears now flowing freely down his face.

Sally let him rant, let him let everything out before she pulled him into her.

John didn’t even have the energy to fight her, letting her draw him into the embrace, one of her hands going to his head and pulling him close.

“It’s okay,” she soothed him, wishing she could pull him into her lap like she used to when he was a child.

“It’s not okay!” he retorted, pulling away and looking at her, angry. “What part of this is okay? The part where Gordon nearly died, or the part where Scott is putting everyone in danger in an attempt to act like the man who used to constantly tell him, tell all of us that we weren’t good enough for him? Or the part where Virgil put himself and his… he put Tycho in danger to cover for the fact that my brother was a _fucking moron_?”

“John,” Sally warned him, suddenly distracted by the door to the room creeping open.

They both looked up, eyes wide as Kayo slinked into the room, back in her casual wear. She froze mid step when she saw Sally sat on the bed, her eyes drifting between the two.

In her hand was a tray loaded with tea and cakes, almost identical to Sally’s.

Sally smile at her, beckoning her into the room as she released John from their embrace.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” she smiled knowingly, picking up her own tray and slipping past Kayo to head back down the stairs, giving Kayo a short nod as she did so. “You two give me a shout if you need anything.”

“We will, thank you Sally,” Kayo smiled as her as she left.

With the door at the bottom of the stairs clicking, the two were left in silence, the moments between them seeming to last forever until Kayo finally drew a deep breath.

“She knows, doesn’t she?” she asked softly, eyes wide and unreadable.

John nodded mutely, avoiding her gaze.

“Did you tell her?”

“No,” John murmured. “She saw you leave, figured it out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

A beat of uncomfortable silence fell between them.

“John, I…” she looked him over, noting his suit back on his body. “Were you leaving?”

He hesitated, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I… needed to think.”

“And you can’t do that here?”

He gave a shaky sigh, looking back at his feet.

“I thought I’d fucked up,” he admitted, tone sad. “Between punching Scott and…” he looked up at her, “this… I… Today has not been a good day.”

“I don’t know, I thought earlier was pretty good,” Kayo smiled weakly. John looked up at her, eyes serious.

“What was earlier?” he asked, the smile slipping from her face.

“What did you want it to be?”

“That’s not what I asked,” he snapped, drawing a deep breath as soon as the words left his lips. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I’m just…”

“Scared?” Kayo finished for him, placing the tray on the bedside table and moving to sit next to him on the bed. John stiffened a little, unsure how to react. “Me too,” she admitted, looking at him with open eyes.

It was a look he hadn’t seen from her in a long time; unguarded and honest.

“Look, John,” she began, speaking slowly, measuring her words. “Earlier was… weird. It was good but… it was so sudden. I knew there was a… something, between us. I mean, between the calls at night and the time we’ve spent studying and… I never knew you felt like… that. Like you’d want to…”

“You think I’m some sexless automaton who lives in the stars?” he asked, monotone. “Yeah, join the club, I hear there’s a big one.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she frowned. “There were times I wondered, sure. But I… I always thought it was… I don’t know… I just didn’t think you were interested.”

“Then why did you kiss me?” he challenged her, intense eyes back on hers. They stared at each other for a moment until Kayo finally backed down, unable to look into his eyes any longer. “Out of pity?”

“No!” she said firmly, “definitely not. It was… I thought you needed some… release. To get your mind off of… everything. To let loose and just…”

“Pity,” John spat at her, “that’s what it is. Everyone does it. Poor little Johnny, up in his spaceship all alone, so sad and smart and where he belongs. I should have known.”

“Then what did you want it to mean?” she asked him, angry now. She was not liking his reaction and it made her defensive.

He looked at her, eyes firey.

“I wanted someone to want me for _me_ , not because they felt sorry for me, not because they thought I needed to fuck out my aggression.” He drew a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Fuck, Kayo, I… I don’t _feel_ like this. I don’t get this angry about _anything_. But the past few days… this was just… not what I needed.”

“What did you need?” she asked reluctantly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted, slumping his shoulders, feeling defeated. “I just… wanted this to end. The rescues, the constant having to send my brothers into danger, the constant threats, everything.” He sighed deeply, tears back in his eyes. “I wanted to… I…”

He looked at her, feeling vulnerable as she fixed him with her intense gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m taking things out on you. This isn’t you or me, it’s… everything.”

“Tell me,” she urged him, glad he was beginning to let her in.

He shook his head, trying to keep what little composure he had left.

“You remember when we first moved here, when Gordon went swimming in the pool and the filter was broken and he nearly drowned?” he asked.

Kayo nodded slowly, confused.

“Yes,” she replied, thinking back. “It was the summer and the guy who fitted the pool had set it too high and his hair got sucked into it on a low dive, right?”

John nodded. Gordon had only been a teenager at a time, long limbed, hair down to his shoulders in an act of rebellion, but hard working and already showing great promise with his swimming, already in the top teams and gunning for a scholarship.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he continued quietly. “It was the summer holidays and he’d been annoying me all day. We were studying by the pool and he was calling us boring, trying to get us to swim with him and splashing us.”

Kayo took a shaky breath, her recall of the day becoming clearer as he spoke. She and John had been spending a lot of time together over the summer; she’d been moved up a year due to her aptitude in engineering and her pure determination to throw herself into anything she could after her father’s untimely death, putting them in the same class together.

They’d grown close, and with her moving to the island, it had only gotten more pronounced. They spent all of their free time studying, exchanging theories.

She defended him, he pushed her to better herself. It was mutually beneficial and rewarding for them both.

That day, they had been doing coursework assigned to them over the summer, Gordon mocking them and joking around, bothering them for hours, asking _why_ they would possibly be choosing to study over lazing around in the hot summer sun.

“He was driving me nuts,” he admitted with a cold chuckle. “I kept telling him to dunk his head and stay there and then…” he paused, closing his eyes. “And then it was so quiet and we looked back and he was… gone…”

“You thought he’d got bored and gone back in the house,” she said softly, shuddering at the memory.

“But you didn’t,” he said, looking at her again. “You _knew_ , you just knew that something was wrong.

She had. She’d not heard him get out, urging John to jump into the pool, to check, just to be sure. She was only just learning to swim; her family hadn’t been well off, struggling for most of their lives before her father had come into Jeff’s employ and they’d seen a massive change of fortune, so learning to do something as trivial and expensive as swimming hadn’t been on the top of their agenda.

Almost begging him, John had acquiesced and dived into the pool smoothly, opening his eyes once the water had settled. Then he’d seen him; Gordon, eyes closed, mouth open as if screaming at the bottom of the pool, long hair caught in the filter.

John hadn’t even thought, surging through the water as fast as he could, grabbing the hair caught in the filter and wrapping his arm around his brother, pulling as hard as he could, feeling so much resistance he thought he wouldn’t be able to manage to get him free.

But finally, the hair gave way, a huge clump left in the filter as John managed to get his brother to the surface, dragging his lifeless body over to the edge.

Kayo had helped him drag him out then run to the house to get Jeff and Lucy, screaming for help while John hunched over his brother, trying to see if he was breathing; if he was alive.

It had only been moments before Gordon had opened his eyes, coughing and spluttering, but those moments felt like hours.

He had let out a croaky scream, shuffling around, trying to get his bearings, pain rushing through him. His head had bled where the chunk of hair had been literally ripped from his head; he still had a scar to this day.

Jeff and Lucille had arrived moments later, Lucille screaming for her son who was still disorientated. They’d taken him to hospital, gotten him checked out and he’d been fine.

That night, John and Kayo had been so shaken up. With Scott and Virgil still at college, living in dorms and enjoying some more ‘adult’ freedoms, they’d been left to take care of Alan who was as scared as they were by the whole situation.

They’d all curled up in John’s bed, comforted by each other’s presence, and that’s how Jeff had found them the next morning.

He’d been furious at the entire situation; furious at the pool builders, at the makers of the filters.

There had been lawsuits, compensation talked about, the whole works.

But he’d been most angry at Gordon. Poor, shaken Gordon, who’d he dragged out onto the patio and forced him to shave his head with a pair of brand new clippers. Gordon, who he made swear on his life that he would never grow his hair past his chin ever again.

Gordon, the Olympic swimming hopeful who was too scared to go back in the water for months, not only because of what had happened, but because facing his father’s wrath again would be too much to bear.

“I thought I lost him that day,” John admitted. “Every time I send him out on a rescue, every time I hear him struggle, I think of seeing him on the poolside, eyes closed, thinking he was dead. Every _fucking_ time. From the moment I saw him under the water to the moment he opened his eyes, I swear my life was fucking over. But you…” he turned to Kayo, “you _knew_. If it hadn’t been for you, I…”

“Don’t,” Kayo urged him, feeling a lump rising in her throat. The image of Gordon was one of them she’d locked in a deep part of her mind, but now bought to the surface, she couldn’t get it back there.

“Dad was so angry,” John continued, ignoring her plea. “He wanted to… he was just… so angry. He kept saying we shouldn’t cry, that we needed to ‘get over it’.” He paused, wondering if he should continue. “After mom, he kept telling me the same thing, telling me I needed to stop being so emotional, that if this all went ahead,” he nodded out the window, meaning the island, “that I’d need to be more ‘in control’, calmer, more level headed. He told me every single day until I just broke down in front of him. I didn’t know how to do what he wanted, I was so scared, everything was a mess and then…” he drew a shaky breath, looking to Kayo with serious eyes. “He hit me. Not like, slapped. He punched me. He’d been drinking a bit and he’d had a bad day, and he looked so sorry afterwards but… god, it hurt. He split my lip and stood over me and told me that I needed to stop being such a coward, that my emotions were making me useless for what I needed to do.”

Kayo stared at him, open mouthed.

“John…” she started, reaching for him. He turned his head, looking back to the floor.

“I don’t know if he realised what he was asking me to do,” he admitted, “but after that, I just… I guess I just shut down. I stopped feeling… anything. Like, I’d never been the most emotive person on the planet but… Mom taught me how important it was to let stuff out, to work it out sensibly, not let it build up. Guess she’d be pretty pissed at me right now,” he chuckled sadly.

“More so at your dad,” Kayo murmured, frowning. She’d only ever seen Jeff hit one of them once, and that had been Scott. They’d been having an argument about something on the patio and Jeff had just pulled back and hit Scott square in the face. She’d run over and gotten between them, stopping any further action as Scott had almost cowered behind her, his face twisted with fear.

Jeff’s face had been the picture of regret as he’d looked between her and Scott before heading to his office and shutting himself in there for hours afterwards. The next day, it had been like nothing ever happened, but she’d remembered, and had been on edge around him after that, whenever the shouting between any of them started again.

“That wasn’t me,” John said softly, sniffing back more tears. “It still isn’t me. _This_ isn’t me. You know today has been the first time I cried since then? That I… I’ve been too scared? I constantly have to be the stable one, the voice of reason. What I do, I can’t get upset or angry or show any kind of emotion, and I fucking _kills_ me. I… this isn’t me,” he repeated, tears falling from his eyes.

Kayo shuffled closer to him, wrapping an arm gently around his shoulders. John flinched under the touch but let her do it, slowly relaxing into her embrace.

“You don’t have to be,” she reassured him, “we only want the best for you. If that means you need some time to adjust, to find yourself again, we can talk about it, all of us, and…”

“And what do we do in the meantime?” he asked, gaze shooting back up to her. “We can’t just shut down for a week and say ‘nope, not saving these people’. We don’t get time off, we don’t get a break. There is no recovery time for us, there is no downtime.”

“What about shore leave?” she asked him seriously. “You must have years of it. Scott would let you have some. It’s not like we’d be out of contact.”

“I… can’t,” he choked, trying so hard to repress everything, to get back to his usual, stable self. “I can’t leave everyone, what if something happens, what if I’m needed?”

“What if you burn yourself out and can’t function anymore?” she countered. “What if one day it all gets too much and you lose it and can’t carry on at all?”

The prospect chilled them both as much as the silence that settled over them.

“You’re right,” John admitted. “I know you’re right, but I can’t… I can’t ask Scott. Not right now. Not with everything that’s going on.”

“Now is the best time,” Kayo reasoned. “We need to get everything out, all at once. It’s no good going through all of this and pretending it’s fine. Trying to hide everything is what’s caused this.”

“I miss you, you know,” John said suddenly, eyes locking with hers. “I miss this, the talking, the way you can get me to… see reason. I thought I’d screwed all of that up earlier. I thought…”

“Just because you put your dick in me doesn’t mean I care about you any more or any less,” she smiled, a little awkwardly. “It hasn’t changed what I thought of you, really. I mean, am I going to spend weeks thinking about it? Probably. It was pretty good, by the way,” she grinned at him, raising a small smile from him, “but whatever happens from here, I’m not going to stop caring about you, John. You’re… the closest thing I’ve had to a best friend in a long time. Probably ever,” she admitted. “And no amount of genital contact is going to change that.”

“Genital contact?” John cringed, not able to stop the smile that turned his lips up, “geez, what an eloquent way to put it,” he chuckled.

Kayo giggled as well.

“Okay, that was an awful way of putting it,” she laughed, “but you get what I mean.”

“Yeah, I get it,” he smiled. “Still sounds weird though.”

“Genital contact,” Kayo repeated, both of them erupting into a fit of giggled.

“Oh my god, stop!” John demanded, covering his face with his hands, “I can’t! Just stop!”

“No!” Kayo grinned, wickedly, turning towards him and moving her face closer to his. “Why can’t we talk like adults about our,” she dropped the volume of her voice to a whisper, “ _genital contact_.”

John broke, bending double with laughter. Kayo joined him, both of them ending up laughing so hard they were coughing, struggling to breathe.

“Seriously, shut up,” John choked, waving a hand at her, “oh my god, I’m actually crying, you made me cry, Kayo,” he laughed, wiping his eyes.

“You were crying before,” she countered with a smirk.

“Yeah but this is different crying,” he argued.

They looked at each other for a moment, catching their breath, random giggled still escaping them.

“Are you going to be okay?” Kayo asked after a moment, tone turning serious again.

John nodded with a soft smile, feeling better than he had before.

“I think so,” he mused, conversations to be had already running through his head. “And you’re right. Of course you are, you always are,” he smiled a little weakly at her. “We all need to talk about what’s going on, openly and like adults. It’s been long overdue.”

She nodded in response, taking a shaky breath as silence descended between them again.

“And what about… this? Us?” she asked softly, voice so quiet John almost didn’t catch what she said.

“About our _genital contact_?” he asked with a grin, raising another giggle from Kayo.

“Yeah, that,” she nodded, smile slipping a little. “I just want you to know, whatever you choose, I’m okay with it. I don’t ever want to push you into anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“And what do you feel about the whole thing?” he asked, measuring her response carefully.

Kayo took a moment to think hard about her answer.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” she replied softly, “I really enjoyed it. You’re… amazing. But long term, I guess… it’s too early to tell,” she admitted. “There’s always been… something between us, but I don’t know what it is. It might be worth exploring, but… I don’t know.”

John bit his lip, contemplating.

“Would you be pissed if I said I just want to keep this casual?” he asked softly, “I don’t want you to feel like you’re being used, ever, so I don’t want you to think that, but I wouldn’t mind… exploring a little more with less…”

“Commitment?” she offered.

“Not that,” John frowned gently at her. “It’s not… I just feel like if this is ‘official’, there’ll be pressure there, if that makes sense. I’d rather just… take our time. Sort of see each other for a while, to see where it goes.”

“That makes sense,” Kayo smiled softly at him, trying to ignore the soft sense of disappointment which settled in her stomach. “I could go with that.”

“Thank you for understanding,” John smiled at her, reaching for her hand. She took his, squeezing gently.

A beat of comfortable silence fell between them.

“You do really need to talk to Scott, though,” she said softly.

“I know,” he sighed, looking to the floor again. “Is he… did I hurt him?”

“Split his lip, from what I saw. Gordon was patching him up when I left to find you. Haven’t seen him since.”

“Oh,” John sighed, moving to stand up as he stretched his arms above his head, joints cracking as he did so. “I should probably go and, you know, apologise.”

“You should,” she sighed. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I have to be, don’t I?” he replied, giving her a weak smile.

“Not always,” she chastised him gently, looking at him seriously. “It’s okay to struggle. We all do.”

“I know,” he nodded, giving her an odd look. “Kayo, I… thank you. For listening, and for talking to me. I miss our talks. I really do.”

“Me too,” she smiled gently. “We’ll have to have more of them.”

John gave her a soft smile, leaning forward and kissing her gently. Kayo leaned into the kiss, closing her eyes and sighing as John pulled away.

“Sorry,” he blushed. “If it’s too much, I…”

“It’s not,” she reassured him, bringing a hand up to touch his cheek.

He grinned, a little embarrassed.

“I’m still figuring this out,” he admitted.

“We’ll take it slow. See where this goes, yeah?” she smiled at him, eyes fond as she looked him over.

“Yeah,” he replied, giving her a soft smile. “We will.”

“Now let’s go face your brothers,” she said, standing up and offering a hand to him. He nodded, giving a sigh as a thousand possibilities ran through his head.

“Time to face the music,” he grimaced.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Business is tough, especially when you want to be anywhere else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooosh, I'm sorry for longer gaps between updates again. Lots going on, work is manic, had huge tooth pain again (which has resulted in root canal being done, joy!) and generally getting over illness has put me a bit behind.
> 
> But getting there slowly!
> 
> We will return to pace next chapter, I promise! Just don't want to rush things out and put out stuff I'm not happy with! <3

Tycho took a deep, steadying breath as he felt the jolt of his plane onto the tarmac of the London City airport, eternally grateful for private jets and supersonic flight.

It may not have been a Thunderbird, but his baby was a fast one; he’d designed her himself after all. She was all sleek angles, plush interiors and engineering marvel with powerful engines to boot. If only he could stop the rattling inside the injector coils, he was _sure_ he could get her even faster.

He made a mental note to ask Brains about that on his return to the island.

He’d made good time; Sydney to London in just under six hours and come away with jet lag that was only slightly making his head spin. That and the thoughts of Virgil and the morning that still had his heart racing at the memory.

Thinking of the larger man, he made another mental note to ask them _how in the hell_ they dealt with the jet lag they must have constantly felt with flying all over the world at a moment’s notice, because right now he wanted to dunk his head in a bucket of ice and call it quits.

But as the jet taxied up to his drop off point, his thoughts turned back to current matters, mainly the statement he was going to be making in less than half an hour.

The board had been insistent; he was to address them immediately, not even giving him a chance to catch his breath and drop his belongings off at home.

Tycho was still wondering if he should have, in fact, stayed with Virgil. He could have been curled up with him in bed right now, skin on skin, being kissed and thoroughly well fucked.

“Stupid board, stupid company, stupid responsibilities,” he muttered to himself as he climbed out of the jet, nodding to his pilot half-heartedly, head still spinning with anger and guilt and the need to be back in the arms of the man who had his body still aching in that moment.

He walked towards the parked car waiting for him, greeted by his usual security lead, Teddy, a huge, bald mountain of a man, dressed in a smart black suit which highlighted his shocking blue eyes against ochre skin, who gave him the warmest smile you could imagine as he approached.

“What’s good, boss? You look like someone beat the shit out of you twice over!” he remarked in his thick south London accent, far too cheery for whatever time it was.

“Hey Ted,” Tycho greeted him with a sigh, shoulders slumped as he dragged himself towards the car. He felt so tired, all he wanted to do was tell Teddy to take him home so he could sprawl on his bed and sleep for a whole day.

“Wow, that bad, huh?” Teddy grinned at him sympathetically as he went to open the door. “I’d heard you were in shit, but not even a hug for your man today?” he teased, opening his arms to the inventor.

“You’re sooo fired,” Tycho deadpanned before grinning widely, giving Teddy a pat on the shoulder. “Maybe later, eh? Still feeling a bit whacked out from the flight.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, no love for your big man,” the bodyguard chuckled. “I expect you to make it up to me, boss, and I mean it. Extra hugs tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Tycho smiled fondly at the larger man; he really did live up to his name at times, sometimes far too affectionate, but while he would joke around a lot like this, he trusted him with his life.

They had met quite by chance, while Tycho was leaving a friends project commencement party, rather drunk and Teddy had been behind the club that two rather large men had decided to drag drunk Tycho to rough him up and mug him, on a cigarette break.

As soon as he’d finished saving his skin, Tycho had offered Teddy a job and the rest had become history.

Teddy nodded as he pulled the door to the car open and Tycho climbed in the car, coming face to face with Saz, caught completely unawares.

“Saz!” he half shouted as the door closed behind him. “I had no idea you were going to be here!”

He turned sharply back to Teddy, who was now giggling behind him.

“You could have at least warned me!” he chastised him.

“And miss the look on your face?” he chuckled in reply. “Not on your life!”

He slammed the door with another chuckle, leaving Tycho and Saz alone in the car as he walked round to get in the driver’s seat.

Tycho looked to Saz with a hesitant look, expecting a blow that never came.

The auburn haired woman continued to tap away at the tablet in her hand, her rounded glasses perched on her nose as she pointedly ignored him, looking like the very essence of professionalism, hair in a tight bun and a grey jacket and trouser combo, ready for action when they confronted the board.

“Er, Saz?” he tried again, settling himself into the seat next to her and doing his seatbelt up as he heard Teddy get into the driver’s seat and close the door.

She continued ignoring him.

“Where we going, boss?” he chirped from the driver’s seat.

Tycho opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by his manager.

“The office, please Teddy,” she said sharply, not taking her eyes off of her tablet as she continued to type. “I’ve just let them know we’re on the way.”

“Gotcha,” he winked at Tycho in the mirror.

“I take it you’re still angry at me?” Tycho sighed, slumping into his seat as he resigned himself to the silent treatment she was laying on him.

“Oh, you _want_ to talk to me now?” she snapped, turning to him with emerald eyes alight.

Tycho swallowed.

“I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose,” he began.

“But you _were_ still ignoring me, weren’t you?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t malicious. I was just… busy.”

“Busy?”

Tycho flushed.

“Yes,” he repeated. “Busy.”

“No details?”

“No.”

“Then you get the silent treatment and don’t get a copy of the statement I prepared for you. Good luck winging it up there in front of the board. Oh, and by the way, Laughlin is in there today as well.”

Tycho frowned at her, beginning to get annoyed.

“Saz,” he warned her, “that’s not fair and you know it.”

She gave him a sly smile.

“Neither is you ignoring me for 4 hours straight and making me think that you were dead, or injured, or worse. Do you have _any_ idea how annoying job hunting is these days?”

He sighed, relenting.

“Fine. What do you what to know?” He looked forward before she had a chance to answer. “And Ted, I _know_ you hear all this, and it stays in this car, do you understand?”

“Come on, boss,” came the gruff reply, “what do you take me for?”

Giving a defeated sigh, Tycho looked at Saz, who was now focussed on him, even as the tablet in her hands continued to vibrate, notifications coming in constantly.

“I want to know the who’s, how’s, why’s and if I should be worried,” she said, the tone of her voice changing. She was in personal mode now. This was Saz the life-long friend, not the business manager. Tycho could cope with that.

He nodded, swallowing hard as he tried to make sense of the last few days.

“Virgil,” he sighed softly at his name, wishing he was here with him, not only to help him explain but also to help give him the confidence he desperately needed if he was to face down the board in a few minutes. “It’s Virgil. He… We are… seeing each other.”

“And is he also the one I need to shout at for dragging you along on that rescue mission to Russia?”

“No, that would be me,” Tycho frowned at her. “He gave me every opportunity to leave, in fact, he told me to flat out, but I… I didn’t want to leave him.”

“You didn’t want to leave a professional to their job?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Tycho suddenly realised that no-one outside the organisation knew about Virgil’s accident.

“Shit,” he murmured to himself. “No, no it’s not that,” he continued to Saz, who looked understandably confused.

“Then what is it?” she pressed him.

Tycho shook his head, sighing as he realised he’d backed himself into a corner.

“Look, this _seriously_ cannot leave this car. And I mean that,” he raised his voice, directing the words at Teddy, who grunted in response, currently concentrating on navigating the central London traffic.

“Ty, you’re scaring me,” Saz said, tone turning stern again. “ _Please_ tell me you haven’t gone and done something stupid like joined International Rescue. The board are going to go _crazy_.”

“You know I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardise everything I’ve worked for,” he frowned at her, his own voice turning stern before he sighed again, bracing himself. “Virgil was… he had an accident, a week or so ago, and he dislocated his knee and was signed off of rescues for recovery,” he explained slowly. “They’re a man down at the moment and things were… somewhat difficult.”

He didn’t want to go into details about what had happened. No-one but he and the people involved needed to know that.

Saz stared at him for a moment, measuring her response.

“That’s… not good” she responded finally, shaking her head a little as she looked back down at her tablet. “Not about you and Virgil,” she added quickly, “well, we’ll talk about that more later,” she side eyed him, “but… they haven’t made a statement of any kind yet so we can’t use that as a reason for…” she sighed.

“I know it’s complicated,” Tycho admitted, biting his lip a little. “I just… I couldn’t let him go on his own and I couldn’t just… sit by, when things got bad.”

“I thought you said he was off of rescues?” she asked, a little wary.

Tycho hesitated, brain spinning as he tried to think up a reasonable response; he hated lying to those closest to him, (or rather, withholding the truth, but in this case, he considered it justified).

“Needs must, I guess,” he murmured finally, breathing a small sigh of relief when Saz turned back to her tablet, seemingly satisfied with the poor explanation.

“Fine,” she sighed, “I guess we can say that it was just a one off where you were meant to be going along to monitor the use of equipment and, given the unpredictability of the rescues they attend, you felt the need to get involved due to your ‘altruistic nature’.”

“You also might want to add that any equipment I operated was done under strict supervision and that I was never in any real danger,” he suggested quickly, flushing when Saz turned to him with sharp eyes.

“Tycho Elias Reeves, are you suggested we _lie_ to your shareholders?” she asked, aghast but with the hint of a smile on her lips. “Honestly, what did that organisation _do_ to you?”

Tycho smiled sheepishly, relaxing against the back of the seat as she continued typing up the amendments to his address.

“Nothing,” he insisted, “really. Just, watching them operate, the way they throw themselves into danger to help people, the _technology_ they use and the way they are just so… selfless, I guess. It’s oddly inspiring.”

“Rather them than me,” Saz admitted. Tycho frowned at her. “Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she said, eyed wide, “I have huge respect for what they do, but you should have seen the media shit storm over the past few hours. People attack them, left, right and centre. It wouldn’t matter if they saved an entire orphanage from a fire, people would complain about the fact they trampled a flower bed doing it.” She paused looking at Tycho with sad eyes. “And it worries me. I mean, are you _sure_ you know what you’re getting into with… you know… this whole ‘thing’ with Virgil? You know your stocks are going to take a huge hit, right?”

Tycho frowned at her again, crossing his arms across his chest as his tone turned defensive.

“I think that both my and his happiness far outweighs any monetary gains or losses I might experience,” he said sharply. “After all the shit w… I’ve been through, don’t you think I deserve a bit of happiness?”

“Happiness doesn’t fly in business, Ty,” she tried softly, putting the tablet down in her lap as she turned to him, face open, concerned again. “I’m happy you’re finally moving on from… everything. But this could jeopardise the board’s confidence in you again. And after the Hypercar incident, they’ve just been looking for an excuse to take control over the company direction and you’re basically handing them one on a plate right now.”

“Because I’m in a relationship?” he asked, incredulous.

“Because you’re in a relationship with a member of one of the most elite rescue teams in the world who regularly put their lives in danger, make money from god knows where and operate with a level of secrecy I don’t quite understand,” she explained, her voice rising a little.

Tycho huffed, a small lump rising to his throat. He _really_ should have stayed on the island.

“I’m not saying this is a bad thing, Ty. You know your happiness is important to me personally, but from a business perspective, this is going to cause waves. You’ve got to understand that.”

“I do,” he sighed, blinking rapidly, trying to fight back the emotions rising in him; a combination of tiredness, sadness and anger was threatening to overwhelm him, and he needed to keep his professional face on. At least until the board address was done. “But I don’t _want_ to care about it,” he admitted. “I just want to be able to enjoy this, not have to worry about what impact my sex life has on my business.”

“Unfortunately you gave up that luxury when you invited shareholders to the party,” she sighed, picking the tablet back up and putting the finishing touches to the address. Once she was done, she handed it to Tycho who looked down blankly at it. “Just give it a quick once over. We’ll be in there in five minutes. Any changes you want to make need to be done by then.”

He nodded, head still spinning.

“What can I do?” he asked, voice small.

Saz felt a pang of sympathy run through her at his tone. He sounded so lost.

“You need to prepare for the fallout,” she said slowly. “Accept that this, you and him, is going to affect stock prices. Be honest with the board, warn them that this will happen. But once the Hypercar launches again, stocks will pick back up, and in a few months, everyone will have forgotten any of this ever happened and you’ll just be another celebrity couple.”

“So stand up in front of them and give them gory details, got it,” Tycho winked at her, trying to lighten his own mood.

Saz tutted at him and shook her head.

“You do that, I walk, there and then,” she frowned, serious.

“I’m kidding,” he reassured her. “Mostly.”

“I swear to god, Ty,” she warned him, just as the car stopped.

“We’re here, boss,” Teddy called back.

Saz and Tycho looked at each other, both taking a deep breath.

“Shit,” they muttered in unison, not able to fight the smiles that rose to their faces as they did so.

 

*-*-*-*

 

The board meeting went about as well as could be expected, given the circumstances.

A million questions had been fired at him as soon as the meeting had officially begun, from every member of the board and with varying degrees of interest. At least two of the members seemed even more enamoured with him, asking for details of the ships and their crews and how International Rescue operated. One even asked him if there was a possibility he could get him an autograph, to which Tycho had to hold in a laugh, but promised he would try.

But some of the members were not as impressed, Laughlin Pars in particular.

Laughlin was the newest member of the board, and Tycho _hated_ him. Fortunately for him, so did most of the other members.

His own company, Gro-tec, a specialist crop genetic enhancement company who had strong ties to various shady and failed businesses, had attempted a hostile take-over of Tycho’s own company earlier in the year, only failing when Saz caught wind of the scheme and used her own funds to purchase the remaining stock left in the open market and with easily bought shareholders, snatching Laughlin’s chance at gaining a majority away from him.

Tycho had, of course, paid her back in kind and given her a pay rise for her trouble, but she had undoubtedly saved his company, if Gro-tec’s history of swallowing other businesses and scrapping them when they exhausted their resources was anything to go by, anyway.

But Laughlin himself was the worst part of the deal.

He was the definition of sleazy businessman; from his oversized suit to the slicked back hairstyle he sported and the imitation leather briefcase he carried which Tycho was _sure_ was actually empty and just for show. It was such a stereotypical look, questions about whether he was actually mocking them tended to follow him around. He was by far the youngest member of the board, early thirties at the most, far too thin and wiry with an almost gaunt face, sharp cheekbones and a flat, pointed nose.

Tycho had voiced to Saz, after their first meeting with him, that he actually looked like one of those cliché villains from terrible old movies.

But unfortunately for Tycho and everyone around him, he was crafty. Since his arrival, Tycho had lost two further board members to his clutches, both of their shares going to him for a much higher than average price, and now with him sat on 43% of his stock, he was dangerously close to owning a majority, and it put them all on edge.

Of course, he had suggested in the meeting that _maybe_ it wasn’t such a bad thing Tycho was ‘involved’ with International Rescue. After all, their technology was so far in advance of most of the rest of the world, and with a mind as sharp as Tycho’s, he would have no problem emulating their gear and mass producing it to turn a tidy profit.

Tycho had immediately shot down the idea, reminding Laughlin of the operations license that the GDF ran with them which stopped any replication or imitation of their craft or technology under global laws.

But the seed was planted, and with the prospect of money to be made, other board members began pressuring the idea.

Tycho had refused, almost pleading with them to see reason; this was why the secrecy of International Rescue was needed.

Should the technology fall into the wrong hands, it could be lethal, and they did _not_ want any blood spilled as a result of that to be on their hands.

He almost slipped, almost said something he would have regretted when Laughlin slipped out the ever classy ‘ _there’s always going to be collateral damage, why not profit from it instead of whining about it_ ’.

But he held his tongue, keeping his face impassive and his tone level.

There would be no imitation of their gear, no breaking of trust, and if they disagreed, he would file a court order with GDF backing (which he wasn’t sure he could get but he managed to bluff support) to force a buyback of all of their stock and the company would return to Tycho’s control.

Even Saz seemed shocked at the idea, but it silenced the board, finally all agreeing that Tycho’s involvement with International Rescue would be tolerated but not exploited, all while Laughlin sighed and tutted throughout the interaction, drawing the ire of some of the other board members and earning him a death glare from Saz.

Finally, with all points out of the way and a temporary agreement reached until a board review in three weeks after the re-launch of the Hypercar and his meeting with the Transport Commission which was scheduled for the day after the launch party, the head of the board, dear old Winston Wallace, an old Australian fellow who had been his first investor back in the day and chaired the board, a classic moustached, kind faced balding man in his usual faded suit who reminded Tycho far too much of the Monopoly man (not that he’d ever tell him that), called for the vote on Tycho remaining in control of the company.

Laughlin was almost jumping up and down with glee as he raised his hand for his vote of no confidence.

But with a majority of two, Tycho kept control. And it took all of his self-control not to laugh in the slime ball’s face.

The meeting wrapped up pretty quickly after that, Tycho making his excuses and heading to leave out the door when Laughlin had launched himself after him, following him and Saz as they’d made their way to the elevator back down to the ground floor, slipping inside with a sly grin on his face.

“So, you live to fight another day, eh Reeves?” he sneered, dull green eyes dancing with the prospect of tormenting his for the duration of the ride down.

Tycho rolled his eyes at Saz, who made a point of staring at the wall and not getting involved.

“Seems so,” Tycho sighed, wishing he could open the doors and push the other man out.

“That was close though, eh?” the oily man continued, shuffling closer to Tycho. “I mean two people isn’t a huge majority. Maybe we’ll get you next time!” he snickered, acting far too juvenile for Tycho’s liking.

“I’m so glad you enjoyed that little display,” Tycho sighed, beginning to get annoyed, “and ever so glad you see the running of a business I’ve built from the ground up as some sort of game.”

“A game you’ll lose if you carry on hanging around with those weirdos from International Rescue,” Laughlin grinned.

Tycho swallowed hard, remaining silent as his hands at his sides clenched into fists.

Saz side eyed him, hesitant to get in the middle of the two. She didn’t like the way he was talking any more than Tycho did, but her boss hadn’t exactly been his usual self for the past couple of days.

“I don’t suppose you’d understand helping other people,” Tycho forced a smile, trying to keep his face neutral. “Doesn’t come easy to you business types, eh?” he mocked slightly.

Laughlin’s grin faltered a little.

“No, I just think they’re idiots,” he continued, finding his footing again. “If _I_ had the technology they do, I’d be running _everything_. I mean, just think of what you could do if you _weaponised_ those machines. They’d be a dominant military. They’re wasted doing what they do. They don’t even charge people. Total idiots,” he grinned again, eyeing Tycho, waiting for his response.

Tycho knew he was baiting him, and as much as he wanted to say something, he held himself back.

“Well everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” he smiled sweetly. “Personally, I think they do fine work, and the world is much better for them.”

Laughlin’s smile faded, a frown replacing it.

He was getting frustrated at Tycho remaining so calm, obviously expecting him to have taken the bait. As he opened his mouth to continue his verbal assault, the elevator came to a halt, the doors opening to reveal two young female interns, both with fresh lanyards around their necks and notepads in hand, chatting animatedly.

They froze when they saw Tycho, mouths dropping open before they completely freaked out, squealing with delight and beginning to barrage him with questions as they squeezed into the elevator, completely ignoring Laughlin and pushing him further to the back, away from Tycho.

Saz couldn’t quite hold in a grin.

What felt like hours of travelling down and hundreds of selfies and questions later (with Saz quietly trying not to laugh behind them), they finally reached the ground floor.

As the door opened, Tycho and Saz hurried out, flanked by the two interns, one of whom had caught Tycho’s attention with a theorem on magnetic resonance stabilization which she explained as they left Laughlin to skulk behind them, obviously annoyed at his jibing being interrupted.

Tycho agreed to meet with the interns in the near future and offered them invites to the Hypercar re-launch party to mingle with other inventors, knowing potential when he saw it; after all, this is why he’d started the internship programmes in the first place.

Saz rolled her eyes as she took their names, adding them to the guest list and shooing them away as they approached the car parked outside the building, Teddy still sat in the driver’s seat, jamming to music with his headphones in and totally oblivious to their presence until Saz knocked on the window, the mountain of a man giving her a sheepish grin as he nodded to her, getting out of the car and helping to usher off the two interns even as they kept thanking Tycho while he climbed into his car, giving them friendly waves before closing the door and slumping into his seat.

In the distance by the elevator, Teddy caught sight of Laughlin, glaring at the car. On catching Teddy’s eye, he gave a maniacal grin and turned back into the elevator, the doors closing and him disappearing from sight.

A shiver ran through Teddy. He has strong instincts, and right now, every fibre of his being was on edge.

Once he had helped Saz into the car, he got back in the front seat and turned to Tycho, feeling uneasy.

“Who was the guy by the elevator, boss?” he asked, trying to sound calm, but Tycho had known him long enough to know any changes in him.

“That’s Laughlin Pars, the one we keep moaning about,” he said, shifting forward in his seat. “Why, what did he do?”

“Nothing,” Teddy said quickly, turning back to face out of the window, looking to the elevator. “Just got a bad feeling, that’s all. Don’t like the look of that one.”

“No-one does,” Saz huffed from the other side of the back seat. Tycho raised an eyebrow at her.

She returned the action.

“Seriously?” she asked, sounding angry. “He is a piece of work, that man. You did well to keep your cool in the elevator, and in the meeting. Especially what he was saying about International Rescue, insulting them and all. _Real_ classy,” she huffed, frowning down at the tablet in her hands before heaving a sigh and turning back to Tycho. “I’m proud of you, you know. You really held your own in there. And with that dick afterwards.”

“You still would have been proud of me if I’d punched him,” Tycho grinned at her. She gave him a disapproving look, but smiled.

“Yes, but I’m more proud of the fact you spared me at least two press releases, a law suit and a mountain of reports, so thank you for that. As much as I’d like to see that sleazeball put in his place,” she muttered the last few words, drawing a soft smile from Tycho.

“Only thinking of you, of course,” the inventor sighed, his head beginning to pound. The jetlag he’d noticed earlier was more pronounced now, and it was beginning to make him feel a bit light headed.

“Can I go home now, please?” he asked, voice smaller than usual.

Saz noticed the change, her body language becoming tense as she picked up on his tone.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sounding a little scared. Tycho nodded and offered a weak smile, trying to reassure her.

“I’m fine, just really tired and needing my bed,” he insisted. Saz nodded.

“Home, Terry,” she said softly to the driver, who was still looking out of the window to where Laughlin had been standing. “Terry?” she prompted him again.

The large man shook his head, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in this gut before looking back to the rear view mirror and giving a short nod.

“Sorry, boss,” he murmured, starting the car and beginning to pull away, taking them on the short journey back to Tycho’s apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was a bit of an odd chapter, as dealing with a lot of OC's to do with the story. Hope I kept you all engaged, and don't worry, the boys will be back next chapter! :)
> 
> Thanks, as always, for reading! <3


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home is where the privacy is.
> 
> [Depictions of masturbation]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't remember (or find the comment) with someone calling the holo-call was going to happen but, yep, you called it, and this one's for you :)
> 
> Hope everyone is still enjoying this!
> 
> Getting back on track with writing now. <3

The journey back to Tycho’s apartment had been thankfully short. Living in the centre of London did have its perks, mainly the short commute from the office and other meetings he needed to attend.

Living on the 36th floor of his building was _not_ one of those perks, he concluded as he waved Saz and Terry off and watched them drive away before turning to entrance of the building, looking up and dreading the journey. Thank every deity there was that elevators were a thing.

His building was one of the largest apartment complexes in the city, an ornate, classically styled building with marble slabs and pillars, built to mimic the height of architectural beauty, even if it was only a few years old.

Tycho himself had financed the building; the apartment at the top was his, with all of the only fractionally smaller apartments below housing families displaced by the gentrification that had begun in the city a few years before.

His venture to allow them affordable housing had ruffled a lot of feathers, particularly with the council housing services as he was charging a fraction of what the building was worth which had caused a knock on effect of lowering house prices around the area, making life for the working class people in the area much easier, and profit for the unscrupulous local landlords much lower.

He’d been hailed as a local hero, creating more opportunities for those living there; more people had gone back to work, improved their lives, bought their families back together. Now, he was looking to expand his project further into the city, buying up plots of land, old buildings, dilapidated areas and creating havens for people who had been struggling, fighting the inequality and poverty that still, despite the advances made since the problems began years before, were still rampant within the capital.

The council had even tried to take him to court, failing miserably and being even further humiliated by Tycho’s payment of their legal fees when they had lost so it wouldn’t come out of tax-payers funds.

It hadn’t made him popular in business circles, many people claiming he was trying to monopolise the housing market and bankrupt other landlords and housing industries, but to the man on the street, it had made him an icon, especially because he was living amongst them.

Not that he was a model neighbour, coming and going at all hours, shouting in frustration in the middle of the night when prototypes went awry, even accidentally setting off the fire alarm and causing an evacuation of the entire building when he blew up a model city with a miniaturised test of new lighting systems.

Of course, the rest of the building’s residents hadn’t been best pleased, but Tycho had personally apologised to all of them (and ordered them all take out the next night) and all was soon forgiven.

They respected him, even more so because he respected _them_ as people, not as tenants. He knew the names of every single person in the building, constantly bought the kids presents, helped whenever people were struggling and never forgot a birthday (even if Saz had a hand in that).

He may not have been able to save the world all at once, but he’d changed it for everyone who lived in the area, and that was a start.

As the entered the lobby, he headed for the elevator, greeted by one of the women coming out of it that he recognised as Abby, a graphic designer who lived on the sixth floor.

“Hey Mr Reeves,” she greeted him cheerily, pausing in the elevator doorway to hold it open for him. He picked up his pace, giving her a grateful smile.

“Hey Abby,” he replied kindly, “thanks for holding it!”

“No problem at all,” she smiled. “You look exhausted. Haven’t seen you around, have you been on holiday?”

“Sort of,” he admitted with a sheepish smile. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I really need to get back up,” he gestured upward. Abby nodded with a smile.

“Of course, sorry,” she blushed a little. “I hope you get some rest!” she called as she began to walk towards the building exit.

“Me too,” Tycho sighed as he pressed the button for his floor. “Have a good day!”

“You too!” she called back as the elevator doors slid shut, leaving Tycho in silence once again, his head still pounding. He always felt guilty when he had to run without having a proper conversation with people, but he was starting to flag now, and he needed to get back to a space he felt safe in before the blip turned into a full meltdown.

Thankfully, the elevator wasn’t needed on any of the other floors, and before he knew it, he was exiting into the corridor which lead to his apartment.

Waving his key fob at the door, it clicked open and he walked in, nearly crashing into the pile of bags that his staff must have dumped just inside when they’d dropped them off earlier.

Too tired to even be angry, he kicked them out of the way and looked around the lounge.

His apartment was his sanctuary, for sure. He’d spent all the time he could spare since he’d moved in having it decorated the way he wanted, doing as much as he could himself. But he knew, as good as he was with his tools and inventions, he didn’t have the creative streak he would liked to have had in order to completely personalise the place.

The entrance hall turned into the lounge after a few feet, all hardwood style flooring with natural wood patterns on it. The ceiling was crisscrossed with shallow wooden beams, giving what should have been a modern apartment a classic, homely feel.

He pressed a couple of buttons on his watch, the lights set into the ceiling switching on and the digital fireplace which sat between the living room and open kitchen across the room roaring to life.

The flames danced and crackled, looking quite realistic as they painted the room with a soft orange glow.

Tycho gave a content sigh. It was good to be home.

He looked to his right, contemplating the door to his master bedroom for a moment before deciding that he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was incredibly hungry. He reasoned that if he went to bed now, he’d only end up waking in a couple of hours with his need to eat.

Heaving another sigh, he trudged through the spacious apartment, feeling a warmth flood through him that only ever came from being at home, in his own personal space.

While the furniture was now at the point he wanted it to be at, all solid wood and plush leather, the décor itself was still rather sparse, something he’d been meaning to get around to. The walls were still the off white they had been when he’d first moved in after the place was built, but he’d added some personal touches, and not just the beams.

Walking past the fire, he entered into the kitchen/diner area, a room which he had considered far too large when he’d seen it for the first time. He’d rectified that by having some birch pieces installed between the two rooms as a type of divider, preserved branches that were slotted into both the ceiling and floor, breaking the room up and giving it a level of natural beauty that came with the birches bark.

They’d always been his favourite type of tree; these branches were from a huge one in the garden of the small family cabin in the highlands where he’d grown up. He’d been forced to leave it and the treehouse they’d built in the top of its sturdy branches behind when his parents made the move to Edinburgh, intent on giving Tycho the best chance he could to get a higher level of education, but he’d always missed that house and that tree.

Years later, when he founded his company and began making enough money to consider it, the first thing he did was to find the current owners of the cabin and offer them a substantial amount of money for it back. They immediately accepted, saying that it was in disrepair and no-one wanted to take it from them.

But with the house back, Tycho set about restoring it to its former rustic splendour, even his beloved treehouse, and on his parents fortieth wedding anniversary, he gifted the cabin back to them, flying them up and showing them around the new, improved cabin.

They’d been overjoyed, his mother breaking down into floods of tears, admitting how she’d never wanted to leave, but how she only ever wanted the best for him and how it was the nicest thing he could ever have done for them. His father was similarly emotional, holding him close and telling him how proud he was of him, how he’d always known he was destined for greatness, and how his generosity was incredible.

The tree had grown a little out of control over the years, in desperate need of pruning and shaping. So when the huge overhanging branches had finally come down, Tycho had struck on the idea of using them in the way that now sat in front of him, a part of his life again.

He smiled as he walked up to one of the branches, laying a hand on the smooth silver bark and thinking back to his parents.

They still lived in the cabin now, with a few modifications to make their lives easier, of course. They were both getting older now, and stair lifts, automated kitchen modules and a few of Tycho’s own assistive inventions had been installed (with minimal resistance on their part) so they could continue to live their lives independently for as long as possible.

Tycho smiled as he thought of them; he really had to give them a call soon. He’d invited them to come to the Hypercar re-launch, (after the first incident, this mother had called him in tears, so worried he thought she was going to demand he come live back at home, which she only did once, to her credit, and let him go after a only a few days visit to reassure her he was fine), but they had unfortunately had prior commitments to a holiday cruise with a few of their friends, and Tycho couldn’t bring himself to ask them to cancel.

His mother, in particular, was losing her mobility a little more now, and he wanted them to get out and enjoy themselves together, with friends, while they still had the chance. That and it kept them out of the way for her return in six weeks when they’d be surprising her at the cabin for her sixtieth birthday.

A shiver of excitement ran through Tycho at the thought of making her smile. She’d always been his biggest fan and supporter, cheerleading constantly both in person and much to his embarrassment at times, on social media and to the press. But she had done so much, sacrificed so much for him, she deserved only the best, and he would make sure she got it.

A to-do list of everything needed for the party began to form in his mind; he still needed to speak to his sister, Amelie, which he’d been meaning to do for a couple of weeks now. She’d given birth to his nephew, her first child, a gorgeous little boy name Fen only a few weeks before, so he’d been giving her space as her and her husband, Marcin, adjusted to their new lives as parents.

But now he was sat on a few missed calls from her, and if he didn’t get back soon, he was sure she’d do her usual of turning up at his home demanding to be seen. Ami didn’t care how busy he was, she was demanding of his attention, and she would always get it. The two of them were close and had been their entire lives.

He idly wondered what she would think of Virgil, if inviting him along to his mother’s party would be a valid course of action when a buzzing coming from his pocket drew his attention from his thoughts.

Rolling his eyes, he reached into his pocket, intent on telling whoever was on the line to buzz off, or even better, ignoring them. But the lack of number or contact details, only the words ‘incoming secure call’ had him intrigued.

He pressed the button to answer, almost hesitantly opening up the video link.

“Tycho Reeves,” he answered in his usual manner.

“So formal,” came Virgil’s smooth voice as his image materialised out of the display section. “That’s kind of hot, you know,” he winked.

Tycho smiled widely, breathing a sigh of relief at hearing the other man’s voice.

“I didn’t know it was you,” he admitted, continuing walking to the kitchen and popping the phone on the side as he began to rummage in the fridge. “Came through as a secure unidentified number.”

“Yeah, I figured it might do that,” Virgil chuckled. “Can’t be too careful when we make personal calls. Plus I’m a total idiot and forgot to give you a direct link to my personal comm,” he admitted sheepishly, blushing a little. “Didn’t think you’d want to be calling through to John every time you wanted to talk, but I kind of forgot.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tycho grinned, “was a bit of a rush this morning. I’m still sorry I had to leave,” he murmured, his smile slipping a little.

“Don’t be,” Virgil smiled at him, “I understand. How did the meeting go, anyway?”

“About as well as can be expected,” Tycho sighed, putting his instant sandwich into the automated kitchen unit and turning it on, “they weren’t happy, but I managed to keep everything under control. Just need to make a statement now, but that can wait until later. I’m definitely going to need sleep first.”

“Do you want me to go?” Virgil offered softly, tone a little guilty. “I can call back later, after you’ve had some sleep or…”

“No!” Tycho said, a little sharper than he meant to. “No, I’m… It’s fine. I’m happy you called. I’ve only just got in though; I’m just grabbing some food, if you can bear with me?”

“Of course,” Virgil nodded, stretching a little.

Tycho smiled fondly at the pilot, noticing that he was shirtless and feeling heat begin to stir in his stomach as the kitchen unit pinged, his food ready.

“So how’s things back there?” Tycho asked as he pulled his food out and began to munch away at it, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Virgil sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as he forced a smile.

“Yeah,” he paused, thinking, “still strained. Everything is just in a bit of a state of flux right now.”

“Sorry if I’ve added to that,” Tycho said, swallowing the last mouthful of his food. “I know my presence has thrown things a bit out of whack.”

“It’s not you,” Virgil said quickly, “please don’t think that. You didn’t make Scott, or anyone else do anything. This is just… a bad time.”

“I’m sorry,” Tycho offered. “I wish there was a way I could help.”

“Me too,” Virgil sighed again. “I miss you. It’s been so weird without you here. I keep turning round to talk to you.”

Tycho chuckled sadly.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he said, blushing. “Sorry,” he murmured at the use of the pet name. Virgil similarly blushed and let out a soft laugh.

“Don’t be,” he reassured him. “I like it.”

“Me too,” Tycho smiled, a beat of comfortable silence falling between them as he put his plate into the sink. “So, how do you do it?” he asked with a yawn. Virgil tilted his head a little.

“Do what?” he asked, confused.

“Deal with jet lag,” Tycho half whined, stretching his arms above his head. “My head is _killing_ me.”

“Oh, babe, I’m sorry,” Virgil offered a sweet smile. “Just drink plenty of water, get plenty of sunlight and try to adjust to sleep schedules as quickly as you can. There’s no real cure, but you get used to it after a while.”

“Well I’m going to have to, aren’t I?” Tycho smiled, swearing that he saw Virgil swoon a little.

“Because you’ll be coming and going a lot?” Virgil gave an almost watery smile, voice hopeful.

Tycho nodded, heart fluttering as Virgil gave a sigh, his smile widening to an almost goofy one.

“Fuck, I wish you were here,” he murmured.

“I wish you were _here_ ,” Tycho countered, “can’t wait to have you with me. I want to show you everything,” he smiled.

“I can’t wait,” Virgil breathed, his eyes flashing with emotion, visible even across the comm link.

Tycho smiled, his chest aching as he looked across to the lounge, picking up his phone and moving across the room.

“Hang on a second,” Tycho said, moving back out into the lounge, towards the large window at the end of the room. The blinds were still closed as he held the phone up, turning it around.

“What are you up to?” Virgil asked, mirth in his voice.

“I want to show you something,” Tycho smiled, changing the perspective of the camera so it focused on the window. “This,” he smiled as he tapped his watch, opening the blinds to reveal the London city skyline, the clouds illuminated dusky pink, orange and yellow as the sun began to set behind the buildings.

Tycho heard Virgil let out a soft gasp at the sight.

“Wow,” he breathed, “that’s… that’s your view?”

“The joys of living on the top floor,” Tycho smiled, relieved Virgil was impressed. “You’ll see it when you visit.”

“Can I paint it?” Virgil asked abruptly. Tycho paused before a huge grin broke across his face.

“Of course,” he chuckled, heart swelling with emotion towards the other man. “You can do whatever you want. I want you… If you’re here I want you to be happy, whatever form that takes.”

A beat of silence fell.

“I want to see you again,” Virgil said. Tycho picked up the phone, turning the camera back around, not missing the smile that lit up Virgil’s face when he reappeared in place of the skyline. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Tycho breathed, a tension between them. He wished nothing more than for Virgil to be here with him, in this moment. “Is there any way you can come any sooner?”

Virgil sighed a shaky breath.

“I… I really wish there was, but my brothers, they…”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be…”

“No, don’t apologise,” Virgil urged him, wishing he could kiss him. “I really wish I could. And I will, as soon as I’m able, I promise. I just have to get my physio appointment out of the way. And besides, Scott has agreed to give me a lift any way.”

“You’re talking to him again then?”

“Yeah. We’re… everyone’s working stuff out right now but we’re back on good terms,” Virgil sighed. “Though John punched him earlier.”

“From space?” Tycho asked, confused.

“No,” Virgil chuckled, “he came down in the space elevator and… it all kind of went a bit crazy. Everyone’s okay, but it’s still a bit up in the air,” Virgil reassured him, noticing Tycho’s concerned look.

“Oh… that sounds… yeah.”

“Family, eh?” Virgil chuckled sadly. “Seriously, thank you for putting up with everyone the past few days. They’re all happy for us, they’re just a bit… weird.”

“You think they’re weird, wait until you meet my sister,” Tycho smiled. Virgil’s eyes lit up a little.

“You have a sister?” he asked, genuinely interested. He hadn’t heard Tycho talk about his family before, and was intrigued.

“Yeah,” Tycho smiled at the attention, “her name’s Ami. She’s my twin.”

“Twin?” Virgil repeated, a little surprised.

Tycho nodded, grinning like an idiot at Virgil’s interest in his life. Anyone else would have made him nervous, uncomfortable, but the same feeling that pulled them together, that created the attraction between them, made him want to share his life and everything in it with him.

"Yep, my lovely twin Amelie,” Tycho confirmed. “And before you ask, she’s older by fifteen minutes, though the way she behaves, you’d think it was fifteen years.”

“Protective?” Virgil smiled.

“You could say that,” Tycho grinned back to him, “thought I hope she’s going to mellow out soon. She, uh, had a son a few weeks ago.”

“Wow, so you’re uncle Tycho now?” Virgil grinned fondly at him.

“I am indeed,” the inventor smiled back, letting out a sigh as he looked to Virgil’s hologram, wanting nothing more than to hold him, cuddle up with him. “I really want you to meet them,” Tycho admitted. “I’m excited for you to be part of my life.”

“So am I,” Virgil admitted. “I’m… this is making me happy, and I’m kind of not sure what to do about that,” he grinned sheepishly, “but I’m damn glad it’s happening. It’s just still a little scary.”

“I know the feeling,” Tycho replied, eyes feeling heavy. “God, I’m so tired. I wish we were together. I just want to be in your arms.”

Virgil let out a frustrated groan.

“If I could fly there right now, I would,” he offered.

“I know you would,” Tycho sighed. “But I’d never ask you to. I know how much your family means to you.”

“You mean a lot too,” Virgil reassured him. “Really, you do. I’m sorry I can’t be there. If I was, I’d be holding you the way you want, laying with you…”

Tycho couldn’t fight the groan that left his lips as his brain began replaying the memories of Virgil’s hands on his body, the feeling of him against his back as he held him close. Heat rushed to his groin again.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, looking around for a moment before beginning to move.

“Give me a minute to get to my room,” he instructed Tycho. The inventor nodded, making his way to his own bedroom, glad that he lived alone and could shut all the blinds and lock all the doors with a swipe of his watch.

He entered into his bedroom. It was his favourite room in his house and the only one he’d decorated properly.

It was his personal escape room, a place to relax and unwind, and he had decorated it with a plush silver carpet, a rich purple feature wall and silver paint for the rest of the walls with matching curtains and a hand carved wooden king size four poster bed in the middle of the back wall with curved pillars on the four sides with plum drapes wrapped around the top frame.

It was the only overly luxurious thing he’d ever indulged in. The rest of his life was rather sparse, professional and somewhat clinical. This was the only space he was willing to really let his personality show through in.

He slammed the door behind him a little too loudly, wincing at the noise.

“You okay?” Virgil asked from the phone. He sounded breathless as he himself closed a door, evidently having made it to his own room.

“Yeah, just a little… over excited,” he admitted.

“Tell me about it,” Virgil purred, setting his own comm down on his bedside table.

Tycho followed suit, placing his phone on the cabinet next to his bed, his heart racing in his chest as he sat down on his plush covers, hands shaking as he turned back to Virgil, his eyes dark with lust.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the way you felt around me,” the pilot admitted, his image shifting as he divested himself of his trousers. Tycho did the same, all but pulling his button up shirt apart and shifting out of his trousers, shoes and socks kicked off in a matter of moments.

He groaned at Virgil’s words, his cock already showing an interest in their conversation. He registered the dull ache he still felt deep inside as he shifted a little, struggling to believe it had been less than 12 hours since he’d last had his lover inside him.

“You felt amazing,” Tycho whispered, moving back down to lay on the bed and shifting to get comfortable as he looked at Virgil’s image, his eyes closed, bottom lip drawn into his mouth as he touched himself. “I want to see you,” the inventor pleaded.

Virgil nodded, eyes opening again as he reached for his comm, widening the field of view. Tycho copied him as Virgil’s image broadened, showing his muscular form laid on his bed as he leant back, cock hard and twitching on his stomach as his hand returned to it.

“Fuck,” he whimpered, biting his bottom lip again as he slid his hand up and down the length of his cock. Tycho watched, entranced as his own cock throbbed, in need of attention. He slipped his hand down, hissing as he made contact with the sensitive flesh.

Virgil refocused on him, having been momentarily lost to his own pleasure when he heard the noise, moaning softly as he watched Tycho touch himself as well.

“I need you, so badly,” the pilot purred. “I need you here, around my cock. I need to feel you next to me, to have my hands on you.”

“It’s where they belong,” Tycho gasped, his free hand finding one of his nipples and pulling gently; they’d always been sensitive.

“Damn right,” Virgil growled, eyes wide as he watched Tycho pick up his pace a little. “Keep it slow,” he instructed him. “I want this to last for a while. If I can’t be there, I want to enjoy watching you.”

Tycho groaned, forcing himself to slow down.

“I can still feel you,” he all but whispered, “stretching me out and filling me up. You feel so good inside me, it’s like you were made to fuck me.”

Virgil threw his head back as he swiped the tip of his cock with his thumb, a shot of arousal running through him at the words.

“Fuck, this is torture,” he chuckled lightly, steadying himself. “I just want to be there, to pin you down and fuck you.”

“M-me too,” Tycho whimpered, struggling to keep himself from speeding up. “I want you on top of me, I need to feel you.”

“Tycho,” Virgil breathed, closing his eyes again as he slipped his free hand to his balls, tugging gently. The inventor watched with rapt attention, his heart leaping in his chest as his name fell from his lover’s lips. “Fuck, I want to taste you so badly,” Virgil said lowly. “When I come to you, I don’t care how badly it fucks up my knee, I’m having you in my mouth, and you’re going to cum down my throat, you understand?”

Tycho whimpered, his hips bucking involuntarily as he nodded, speeding up his actions. Virgil couldn’t help but do the same.

Both men moaned in unison as they picked up their pace, staring at the images of each other as they did so.

“You’re so beautiful,” Virgil breathed, trying to keep his pace steady as his own hips bucked up, his gaze locked on the image of Tycho’s face as it screwed up in pleasure. “You’re so beautiful when you cum, too,” he grinned, gritting his teeth as another moan escaped him. “I’ve got the image seared into my brain, I never want to forget.”

“Fuck, Virgil,” Tycho groaned, thumbing the head of his cock. “I’m not going to last, fuck, this is, _fuck_!”

He arched his back, fucking his hand as memories of Virgil slipping in and out of his body assaulted him.

“When I see you next, I’m going to pin you to a wall and fuck you,” Virgil growled, words flowing as he stared intently at Tycho. “I’m going to lift you up and bounce you on my cock until you scream for me. Gonna make you cum so hard, gonna make you forget everything.”

“Want it so badly,” Tycho managed, words beginning to fail him as the familiar tingling sensation began building in his gut. “Need you, so badly. Fuck, _Virgil_ ,” he moaned again, arching his back once more as he fought off his orgasm.

Virgil moaned at the sights and sounds of his lover, wanting nothing more than to be there, pinning him down and taking him.

“So gorgeous, so, _fuck_ , so fucking beautiful, you’re… I love you,” the pilot breathed, moaning as his own orgasm began to build, nearly tipping him over the edge. He gritted his teeth again, forcing it back down, trying to savour every second of this.

“You’re gorgeous too,” Tycho moaned, “fuck, so, you’re so _strong_ , I just want you to hold me down and take me, I want you to never stop, to be inside me, all the time.”

“Want that too,” Virgil groaned. “Fuck, Tycho, I’m gonna cum,” he whimpered, biting his lip. Tycho let himself go, fucking his hand in earnest as he heard Virgil moan again, watching on the comm as he arched his back, face contorting in pleasure as he came in thick, white ribbons onto his stomach and chest.

The sight and sounds sent Tycho toppling over the edge, a tidal wave of pleasure washing over him as his orgasm hit.

He moaned Virgil’s name, tightening his grip on his cock as he came hard, his head spinning as he felt his seed land on his own stomach in thick spurts.

Both men took a moment to recover, to come down from their high as they looked into their comms, chests heaving as they savoured the sight of each other, still blissed out.

“You okay?” Virgil asked after a minute or so, still drawing deep breaths. Tycho could only nod, words not coming to him at that moment. “Good,” he smiled, collapsing back onto his bed. “Fuck, I want to kiss you right now,” Virgil admitted, reached out of the comm view for something, a shirt by the looks of things, which he used to wipe his mess off of his chiselled stomach.

Tycho watched him, still trying to find words.

“I miss you,” he managed, a small lump finding its way to his throat. He did, truly, like he’d left a piece of himself behind on the island. Whether it was because of this weird connection they shared, the fact Virgil treated him so well, touched him so perfectly and made him feel so wanted and cared for or whether it was the jet lag and exhaustion he wasn’t sure, but was sure that his chest was aching more than he ever thought possible from missing someone. “I really do.”

“I know, babe,” Virgil smiled sadly, noticing the change in Tycho. “It won’t be long, okay? I promise. I’ll have my hands on you again soon.”

Tycho nodded as he forced a smile, trying to keep the tears that gathered in his eyes from falling, not wanting to spoil the moment. Virgil saw right through him.

“Hey,” the larger man called to him gently, “babe, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Tycho sniffed, losing the fight against his tears as they spilled over onto his cheeks. Virgil swallowed hard, feeling completely useless. “Everything’s just so intense right now,” the inventor said shakily, wiping at his face roughly. “Sorry if I ruined the moment.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Virgil reassured him, wanting nothing more than to reach out and hold him, his own eyes burning as he watched Tycho try to regain his composure. “You never could. I’m sorry I’m not there.”

“Don’t be silly,” Tycho smiled sadly, “you can’t be with me all the time. I just need to… adjust.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to be there all the time,” Virgil argued. “You know if I could be there right now, if I could have come with you, I would.”

“I know,” Tycho sighed shakily. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Virgil smiled at him. “I really do.”

Tycho’s heart fluttered in his chest at the words, warmed to his core.

“Now you get cleaned up and get some rest, okay?” he instructed the inventor. “You’re going to need it, from the sounds of things.”

“I know,” Tycho admitted. “Thank you, for this and for being so understanding,” he added sheepishly, face a little flushed. Virgil beamed at him, eyes dancing with affection.

“You never have to thank me,” he replied softly, “you’re worth… everything.”

“Thank you,” Tycho murmured, unsure how to handle the affection, exhaustion still muddling his brain.

“I should let you go,” Virgil sighed sadly. “You need rest.” He shifted a little, suddenly sitting up. “Oh, shit, that’s what I mean to tell you,” he said quickly, drawing Tycho’s attention. “Scott asked me to set up a call between us three tomorrow, so we can go over this statement we’re all meant to be making about, you know, what happened.”

“Can you send me a reminder?” Tycho asked, cutting himself off with a yawn. “Guaranteed I’ll forget by morning.”

“Of course,” Virgil smiled fondly at him. “I’ll send it with my personal comm link too, so you can get hold of me whenever you need to.”

“Thank you,” Tycho grinned tiredly back at him, “for everything.”

“I told you, don’t thank me,” Virgil frowned playfully. “Now, you get some sleep, okay? I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m gonna sort some things.”

“Okay,” Tycho yawned, too tired to even question what he meant by that. “Goodnight, Virgil. I love you.”

“I’m never going to get tired of hearing that,” the larger man beamed. “Love you too.”

The comm cut off, the screen of Tycho’s phone momentarily blank until a message popped through, flashing up.

_‘Tomorrow, 12pm GMT, meeting with ST and VT regarding statement.’_

He clicked to add it to his calendar, about to head into this adjoining bathroom and get cleaned up when another message popped through, accompanied with a photo.

Pressing to open it, Tycho inhaled sharply as the image of Virgil, naked and erect, his hand wrapped around his cock once more flashed up, a message underneath;

‘ _Still insatiable. Going to be thinking of you all day. Private comm link is PNZT05827134. Call me xx’_

Tycho let out a groan as he stared at the image, his own cock beginning to stir again. If he hadn’t have been so exhausted, he would have called Virgil again, had another round with him, but the pounding in his head and the absolute tiredness that was seeping through him won over.

It was going to be a long week or so, that was for sure.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family resolutions are coming...

Virgil stirred slowly, reaching out an arm across his bed as his consciousness slowly slipped back to him.

He grasped at the cold sheets next to him, sitting up and looking, bleary eyed around the room.

“Tycho?” he mumbled, looking around before his memory caught up with him; Tycho was in London.

He shook his head, trying to regain his bearings. Yesterday had been a blur of his brothers and him finally getting to sit down (though everyone was on edge, as they got whenever it got to more than 24 hours without some massive catastrophe) for a family meal, deciding to let Gordon have a turn at cooking. The mac and cheese he’d made had been surprisingly good, and they’d all had a catch up, though John was still notably absent.

The space elevator was still docked in the hangar, so he hadn’t made his way back up yet, and Scott had been visibly bothered, wanting to find him and talk to him but knowing that until he cooled down, it would likely make it worse.

They’d all sat down and watched a bit of TV until Alan and Gordon had started falling asleep on each other around 11pm, Sally sending them all to bed.

Brains had come to find Virgil shortly afterwards, showing off some new enhancements to Mini-MAX and discussing the new upgrades to Thunderbird 2 that would be scheduled for the next time Tycho was back on the island, whenever that was.

They’d ended up talking late into the night about their relationship, about Tycho’s inventions and how Brains admired him professionally and had done for some time, the inventor expressing uncharacteristic glee at Virgil’s relationship with him, meaning that he could be around him more. Virgil had to laugh; he’d never seen Brains this enthusiastic about _anything,_ and had to remind him that _Tycho was his friend as well._

He swore Brains held in a whoop.

After some time, they’d ended up arguing over which university he went to, deciding it was not appropriate to call him and ask (no matter how much both of them wanted to) and resorted to googling him instead, Virgil feeling a little guilty as he did so.

They found an information page on him, listing all of his achievements, projects and businesses, finally getting to the part about his education where Brains did an actual whoop, the page proving him correct.

But Virgil was focused on something entirely different; his birthday.

 _September 18 th_. Two days from now.

Virgil had started to panic. Two days? But his physio appointment was in three days, and he couldn’t miss it. He had to reschedule, he had to make it to London… He had to buy Tycho a gift!

It all got a bit much.

Brains managed to calm him down, rubbing soothing circles into his back as he’d come up with a sound plan of action after the initial wave of panic had subsided; he’d call the clinic tomorrow, see if he could get an appointment out of hours or on Monday. It was Friday tomorrow, which meant the clinic would definitely be open. Then he’d need to think about what to get Tycho for his birthday.

Why hadn’t he mentioned it? Another wave of panic, wondering if there was a reason he hadn’t said anything, if he’d simply forgotten in everything that was going on or if there was something more to it.

He was beginning to flap when Brains suggested he sleep on it. Virgil had agreed, heading up to his room with his head spinning.

When he’d got up, he’d made the call to Tycho, trying to hold it together enough to ask him about his birthday, remembering Scott’s request earlier that they arrange a conference call to talk through their statements, make sure they covered all bases.

But as soon as he’d heard his voice, Virgil had melted, forgetting everything except his need for the other man, the feel of his skin and the softness of his lips.

It had been 5pm Tycho’s time when he’d called. He looked over at the clock on his bedside table.

It was 9:45am local time now. He’d managed to grab a few hours sleep, at least.

He idly considered his options, images of Tycho still running through his mind. He missed him like crazy. Biting his lip as he thought through the possibilities, he decided a shower was called for first to help clear his mind.

As soon as he was out of the shower, Virgil went hunting through his messages for the letter from the physio. He knew the department was likely busy, but he _needed_ to get this out of the way, to be seen and hopefully sorted early.

With it being so close to the weekend, the likelihood was, if he could be seen any earlier than Wednesday, it would be Monday. That was okay, he reasoned. Two more days without Tycho, he could just about cope with, and it would give him time to sort out his birthday gift and decide what he was going to do.

Not that it was all about seeing Tycho; the prospect of having to wait to find out what, if any further action was needed with his knee had been eating away at him a bit more than he would have liked to admit, and after the pop he had heard the previous day, he was eager to get it out of the way for his own sanity.

Being so early, the appointments team would be in the office, so he typed in the number on the email, fingers shaking as he did so.

Anxiety was an odd thing, he thought. He was so used to dealing with complete strangers in dangerous situations, but put him on the phone to an appointments line and his brain started freaking out.

The line rang through, connecting in seconds.

“Liverpool hospital trauma service, Orthotics and knee appointments,” a pleasant male voice rang over the line.

“Uh, hi,” Virgil began, feeling awkward. “I’m sorry to call at such short notice, but my name is, uh, Virgil Tracy. I have an appointment next Wednesday at 2pm for a knee review, I was just wondering if there was any possibility of being seen sooner?”

“Okay, Mr Tracy, let me just bring up your records and we can have a look for you,” the voice replied, tapping away audibly at a keyboard. “Can I have your date of birth please?”

“Um, it’s August 15th,” he offered.

“And it says here your address is… oh, that’s odd. It says classified?”

“Yeah, it will do,” Virgil chuckled awkwardly.

“Um… okay,” the voice said, confused. “Is there any reason for that?”

“It might have something to do with the whole ‘being a part of International Rescue?” Virgil chuckled softly, still feeling incredibly awkward.

The voice let out a gasp suddenly, sounding flustered when he began talking again.

“Oh, my god, I’m so sorry Mr Tracy, I had no idea, oh my god, I’m sorry, I’ve, yes, I’ve got your record, so, um, what can we do for you?”

Virgil chuckled a little.

“Just wondering if there was any way I could move my appointment up to Monday or Tuesday? Had a pop in my knee yesterday and I was just wanting to get it checked out. I think I was scheduled in for Wednesday, according to this mail I got?”

“Yes, of course,” the voice said, sounding flustered.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Virgil reassured him, automatically slipping into his calming voice that was usually reserved for calming people on rescues. “Just breathe, I’m just the same as anyone else, yeah?”

The man on the phone took a deep breath, steadying himself.

“Yes, sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m not being very professional right now.”

“It’s fine,” Virgil smiled, glad he was calming down.

Some more tapping on the keyboard on the other end and the man spoke up again.

“Yes, it was the 2pm as you said on Wednesday with Dr Raffello. We don’t seem to have any on Monday or Tuesday free, but we do have a cancellation for 3:35 today if you can make it in? It seems you were scheduled for an MRI as well, do you want me to see if I can arrange that for today as well?”

“Oh, was I?” Virgil asked, taken by surprise. “The mail didn’t say anything about that.”

“I’m not sure why it didn’t,” the man said apologetically, “but it definitely says here that you are meant to be scheduled. Is it okay for me to book you in for your appointment and your therapist can advise you of any follow ups when you see them?”

Virgil looked at the clock, doing a quick calculation in his head of the time needed to get to Sydney.

“Yes, that would be great,” he smiled, feeling relieved. “So 3:35 yes?”

“That’s right,” the man confirmed. “You’re all booked in now. If you can arrive between 10 and 15 minutes prior to your appointment to sign in, we’ll be expecting you then.”

“Thank you so much for your help,” Virgil said, truly feeling grateful.

“No problem at all,” the man said, sounding relieved. “Happy to help.”

“Great, thank you,” Virgil said again, awkwardly as he hung up the call, gathering his thoughts as he shifted to grab his crutch. He needed to head down and talk to Scott if he was going make today.

*-*-*-*

John had been hiding in Jeff’s study for a few hours now.

As a child, he’d never been allowed in here; none of them had. There were too many classified military secrets strewn across the desk, too many phone calls about things that were not for children’s ears being discussed, so coming in here to sit and play games on his handheld rig with his feet on the desk now felt like a final defiance.

He was in his casual clothes now, jeans and a loose grey t-shirt he hadn’t worn in years, feeling well rested and calm for the first time in a while. Kayo had convinced him to stay on earth for a bit, to reconnect with everyone.

Though he still hadn’t apologised to Scott or spoken to anyone else since, opting to skulk around and slip from room to room unnoticed.

EOS was ever present in the corner of the office, projecting herself through the video display, silent and observing.

“Why do you and your siblings fight?” she asked, out of the blue. John jumped a little, so used to her presence that he almost forgot she was there. He placed his gamepad on the desk, putting his arms behind his head and stretching.

“That’s not an easy question to answer, EOS,” he responded, measuring his response. He had to be much more careful when answering her questions than he was with other people; his answers could be easily misconstrued with her, and she would take what he said as gospel.

“Is it to do with survival instinct?” she questioned him quickly, “or pack mentality? Were you trying to establish dominance over Scott? Are you going to become the new leader of International Rescue?"

“What, no!” he snapped, “don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then why did you hit him?”

“Because I was angry.”

“You get angry at me, sometimes. Why do you not hit me?”

“EOS,” he warned her, frowning as he took his feet off of the table and sat upright.

“I am curious, that is all,” she replied, her tone turning petulant. If she had a physical presence, he was sure she would have turned around, folded her arms and huffed.

“It’s not a dominance thing,” John sighed, “I was angry with Scott because he put Gordon in danger unnecessarily.”

“Because he sent Gordon out with only a 16% chance of success?”

“Is that what his chances were? Damn it,” John sighed again, running a hand over his face. “Yes. That’s the reason why.”

“Virgil, Kayo and Tycho Reeves being present amended the chances to a 78% success rate,” EOS offered, “compared to only 34% is Scott had attended. Thunderbird 1 would have been minimal use, and Scott’s unfamiliarity with the pod system would have been detrimental to the rescue.”

“Oh man, I should so tell Scott that,” John held back a smile. “But it sounds like you got why I’m annoyed at him.”

“He put a family member in danger,” EOS confirmed. “Family is important.”

“It is,” John nodded, a little solemn now.

“Then why did you hit Scott?”

“Because I was angry.”

“But he is your family.”

“It’s… complicated,” John huffed. “Families fight sometimes. It’s a human thing.”

“Humans are confusing,” EOS said sharply. “You fight people you love, it doesn’t make any sense!”

Her voice was a little shrill, a tell-tale sign she was becoming agitated.

“It’s really difficult to explain,” John tried. “We’re emotive creatures, everything we do, every reaction we make, it’s based on emotions. It’s… human.”

“Is that why you rescue people?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Because you reactive emotively?”

“Kind of,” John said softly. “It was set up because of our father’s emotional response to… to our mom dying.”

There was a pause, as if EOS was contemplating her words.

“She died in an accident,” the AI stated. John nodded, resting his hands in his lap.

“Yes,” he confirmed, “In an avalanche. No-one could get to her, to dad in time. He… he watched her… freeze to death in front of him. They were both trapped and he… he couldn’t save her.”

Tears welled up in John’s eyes. It had been years since he’d spoken about his mother’s passing to anyone. Their father had tried to spare them the details of how their mother had died, not wanting them to know how much pain she was in, how scared she was and how she had spoken of nothing but them, their futures and her love for them even with her dying breath, but the media had been in a frenzy for weeks afterwards. They were celebrities, after all, and the media had hounded them whenever they were on the mainland.

One of the outlets had even got hold of a recording of Lucy’s last words, over fifteen minutes of her begging Jeff to keep her boys safe, to never let them forget how much she loved them that Jeff had recorded at her request and had been handed over as evidence, must to his protests.

It was played on repeat for almost a week on every channel until Jeff had managed to get an injunction against the original media outlet and had it banned from being played, but the damage had been done.

The boys knew everything.

Gordon and Alan were too young to truly understand, but Scott and Virgil had coped with anger directed towards everyone; their father, the emergency services, the mountain rescue response team, the resort who had refused to put out avalanche warnings despite knowing about the treacherous conditions.

John could still remember the way Scott would stay up with their father and Brains for those first few nights, planning ways to increase response times of the existing services, early warning systems, legal obligations for resorts to put out warnings in certain conditions but it never seemed enough.

Thus the idea of International Rescue had been born. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, since the void in John had deepened.

After his mother’s death, he had retreated into himself further. He’d been in college at the time, studying communications and nearly ended up dropping out with the stress of the loss. He had support from friends and teachers, all of them making allowances for him, but over time, they lost interest as he became more and more withdrawn, spending time in his apartment studying, researching, designing the strongest communication network possible, throwing himself into it as a distraction from the grief he felt around him. It was swallowing him whole, and having something to focus on helped.

Kayo was the only person who truly understood the dual grief he was experiencing and Jeff began to disappear into the workshop and his office more, dedicating his life to creating the amazing machines they now operated, to training his boys to become the people who should have been there to save Lucy that day.

In losing his wife, he also lost part of himself, and the boys lost their father to a boss, a manager who began to only see them for their uses. The love was still there, but he was so switched on all the time, so unable to let go in case they missed a rescue, it fell by the wayside more often than not.

John sighed, remembering the dread he’d felt in his stomach when he returned to the island from college, knowing that his life was about to change forever. No more friends, no more free time or hours long indulgence in hobbies or reading his favourite books.

He’d wanted to run, to turn away from the island and disappear. He could have done it, too. He had the know-how, the resources and the connections.

But seeing his brothers, how proud they were, how much good they were doing… somehow it made it all worth it.

It would take a lot to drag him away nowadays, but the apprehension he felt still flared up occasionally.

“We help people because no-one else can,” John explained to EOS, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Because if we don’t, more people will lose mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends, and that’s just… not okay.”

“You don’t wish for anyone else to experience the grief you did.”

“That’s… yes,” he sighed, emotions still bubbling in him. “Losing mom was one of the hardest things we ever went through. I… I still miss her. She understood me.”

“She knew you were different,” EOS said, her tone kind. “She knew you were special.”

“Have you been reading through her personal files again?” John chastised her lightly.

“Only a little,” EOS said, her tone playful. “She said you were her favourite, several times. I have many archived records if you would like to review them.”

John swallowed, smiling a little sadly.

“No, thank you EOS. It’s… it’s still painful. But thank you for thinking of me.”

The door to the office opened suddenly, drawing both his and the AI’s attention.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise you were in here,” Scott said as he locked eyes with John, moving to back out of the room, a look on his face akin to a deer caught in headlights.

EOS’s form seemed to move towards Scott, as if motioning to John. The younger man didn’t miss it.

“Wait, don’t leave on my account, I can…”

“No, it’s fine,” Scott said, sounding almost frantic. “I didn’t mean to…”

“I’m sorry,” John blurted out, standing up as Scott froze in the doorway at the words. He hesitated for a moment before coming into the room and closing the door behind him. He leant on the wooden panel, heaving a sigh.

“It’s okay,” Scott reassured him, “really.”

“It’s not okay,” John said, hanging his head where he stood, his arms dangling uselessly by his side. “I hit you. That’s… not okay.”

“You pack a mean punch,” Scott chuckled softly, “caught me by surprise.”

“I’m really sorry,” John breathed, “I was just so _angry_. It wasn’t right, but…”

“You had every right to be,” Scott admitted, moving to sit in the chair in front of the desk, gesturing for John to do the same on his side. The slimmer man hesitated for a second before following suit. He felt a shiver run through him; this room was usually reserved for telling’s off whenever they were summoned here, and he didn’t have the fondest memories of the place.

“I made a shitty call,” the older man said slowly, words careful. “I put Gordon in danger, and if Virgil hadn’t have been there… I’m so glad he doesn’t give a shit what I say, I really am. That man is a treasure, even if he does drive me crazy.”

“I kind of expected you to argue with me,” John said, looking up at his brother.

“You’re right,” Scott said, tone earnest and eyes wide, open. “I’m not going to argue with you, because you’re right. You’re _always_ right, and I’m sorry I don’t always listen to you. I’m… trying to change that. I’m trying to… be better. To not be like…”

“Scott,” John cut him off, “you’re doing okay, really. You’re… so good, usually. You get it right so much of the time, but when you get it wrong…”

“It’s catastrophic, I know. I’m a man of extremes,” Scott gave a mirthless laugh. “I’m working some things out right now. And I know everyone expects me to go back to this, to start this whole thing again in a few weeks, but… I’m really trying this time. I want to learn from my mistakes, and I need everyone to keep me in line. I… I want this to be a democracy; I don’t want you all to feel like you can’t tell me I’m wrong.”

“Well I don’t think anyone has ever been afraid of that,” John smiled weakly, “it’s the listening part that you have issues with.”

“I know,” Scott sighed. “I’m… It’s so hard. I don’t want anyone to feel like, if anything goes wrong, that it was on them. I want to…”

“You can’t take responsibility for everything all the time,” John chastised him, “that’s just ridiculous. You’re only one person.”

“I’m starting to realise that,” Scott smiled. “I may be a slow learner, but I’m learning. And I really am sorry.”

“Me too,” John smiled back at him, breathing out and feeling a weight lift from him. “Thank you, for telling me this. And for finding me.”

“It, uh, wasn’t on purpose,” Scott admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I may have been coming in here to, uh, hide.”

John grinned widely at him, his eyes knowing.

“Who have you pissed off now?”

“No-one,” Scott said, quickly, “really. I’m actually, uh… I need to have a think about this statement that we need to put out tomorrow… and, you know… I need to apologise to Tycho for… everything and…”

“I don’t think that will be an issue,” John said, voice soft and calm. Scott gave him a questioning look. “What? He seems like a really nice guy. I don’t think he’s the kind of person to hold things against someone. Plus he knows you, you saved his life in the Hypercar.”

“Yeah, but I think I crossed a line with the whole… I shouldn’t have told him about Virgil. I shouldn’t have got involved.”

“You care too much,” John stated, very matter-of-factly. “That’s you’re problem. You’re so wrapped up everything that could go wrong you never get to see the things that might not. It’s great for work, not so much for personal life.”

“They seem happy together,” Scott admitted. “Seeing them when they were saying goodbye, you’d think they’d been together for years. I still think they’re moving a little fast, but…”

“Virgil has a lot of love to give,” John reasoned, “and after so long, it’s nice to see him moving on. When he told me, I was worried too, but he’s smart. He’s not going to go into something looking to get hurt. He knows the risks.”

“I know,” Scott sighed. “I just… I couldn’t watch him go through that again. I love him so much. I love all of you so much. I’d do anything to protect you.”

“Anything except take a step back, huh?” John smiled at him.

“Like I said, I’m working on a few things,” Scott said, returning the gesture weakly.

There was a beat of silence that fell between them as they regarded each other fondly, John very aware that EOS was still present and silently listening in her spot on the display.

“So are we good?” John asked, voice a little hesitant. Scott smiled at him, nodding.

“Of course we are,” he said as he stood, moving to the other side of the desk. John stood up, unsure of what Scott was doing as his older brother reached his side, holding his arms out, offering a hug.

John couldn’t remember the last time he had hugged Scott; it must have been a couple of years. They had always been close, the whole family had, but out of all of his brothers, John had probably lost that closeness with Scott the most.

They spoke regularly, as part of their work, but it had been a long time since they’d just spoken like this, just hung out.

As he accepted Scott’s offer, wrapping his older brother up in a hug, he realised that he missed him. Scott had always been headstrong and protective; when John was being bullied in school, Scott had turned up in the playground on his favourite motorcycle, leather jacket hanging off of him and aviators on his face to pick him up one day, telling John _very loudly_ how he’d been at a fight club all morning and won the bike in his latest bout.

All of the kids had been incredibly impressed, even if it was all bullshit. But it had worked; John had been left alone, his former bullies fearful of Scott’s wrath. Rumours had spread around the school that he was training John to be a fighter too, which lead to a lot of interest and his father eventually being called, but for the peace it gave him, it was _so_ worth it.

And Scott had done it all without being asked, taken the rap and protected him all the time and in every way he could. He was the very definition of the best big brother, and John felt a rush of gratitude towards him.

He gave him a squeeze before pulling away.

“You’re doing fine,” John reassured him, patting him on the shoulder as the words he wanted to say failed him a little, “really. You may leap before you look sometimes, but you do great. We couldn’t do this without you.”

“Thanks, John,” Scott smiled weakly, both men turning as the door to the office opened once more, Virgil appearing in the doorway.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted cheerily.

“Hey Virg,” Scott smiled. “What’s up?”

Virgil looked between them, a fond smile on his face as he saw them close to each other, figuring they must have been working stuff out. He also caught sight of EOS flickering on the display.

“Hey EOS,” he added, smiling when her display flickered a little.

“Hello, Virgil,” she greeted happily, always glad to be acknowledged.

“Scott, I have a favour to ask,” Virgil said, an eager smile on his lips.

Scott and John looked at each other before turning back to Virgil, an air of concern about them.

“Okay,” Scott said, “what do you need?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading and commenting, it really helps me keep going and I'm pulling so many ideas from you guys :)
> 
> Going to start picking up the pace soon and, oh boy, do I have some interesting turns for this to take!


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admissions and goodbyes.

“So you want to what now?” Scott asked as he watched Virgil pack away clothes into his suitcase, his heart hammering in his chest as he did so.

The last time he’d seen Virgil packing to leave, it hadn’t been in the best situation.

He’d followed Virgil up to his room at the younger man’s request, only half listening to his excited ramblings and proposition of plans as he was still processing his conversation with John.

“I just told you, I’ve got the physio appointment at the Liverpool hospital moved to today,” Virgil repeated, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I got that bit,” Scott said, sighing in frustration. “It’s the ‘can you take me to London afterwards’ part I didn’t quite get,” he frowned.

“Oh,” Virgil said, moving gingerly on his crutch over to his wardrobe and pulling out some of his formal wear, carefully carrying over to the suitcase and placing it inside. “So, I found out yesterday evening that it’s Tycho’s birthday on Tuesday, and I want to go and surprise him, so I thought that, seeing as we’re meant to have a meeting with him today about the statement, it might be an idea if we actually go there in person, have the meeting, you can drop me off and we can do it all at once. Neat and tidy.”

“And Tycho has no idea about any of this?” Scott asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not trying to be a downer, Virg, but are you sure this is a good idea?”

The younger man paused in his packing, sighing a little.

“Well if he’s not down with it, you can always bring me home, right?” he asked with a small smile. Scott shook his head.

“I just don’t want you to be rushing into this and pushing things, dude. I want this to work for you. I mean, I’m sure he’s going to be happy to see you and all, but…”

“We kind of talked about it last night,” Virgil admitted. “Well, this morning. And he wanted me there then, so I’m hoping he’ll be fine with it.”

“Okay,” Scott sighed, running a hand over his face, “if you’re sure.” He hesitated. “Are you sure he’s going to be okay with me being there though? I mean, after last time I saw him…”

Virgil turned to smile fondly at his older brother.

“He’ll be fine,” Virgil reassured him. “Like I said, he’d been on at me for ages about being too hard on you. I think he’s got a soft spot for you.”

“I don’t know why,” Scott murmured, flushing a little.

“Maybe because you saved his life?” Virgil said, raising an eyebrow. “He hasn’t exactly forgotten, you know. He’s still grateful, for everything you and the rest of us did. He’s not the kind of guy to just let that go.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Scott mumbled, a little embarrassed. He didn’t deal well with praise when it was to do with rescues.

“He’ll be fine, really,” Virgil smiled at his brother as he finished packing up the last of his things, doing up the suitcase, “and he keeps saying he wants to get to know you all better.”

“That’s… nice,” Scott forced a smile, though a part of him was panicking.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Virgil sighed, sitting on the bed to look at the older man, “and I thought it too. The whole, ‘he only wants to get to know us so he can steal our tech and ruin our lives’ thing. It’s still got me scared,” he admitted. “I’m not going to pretend J… he didn’t fuck me up badly. I mean, Tycho’s… he’s… so nice and honest and he _gets_ it, he really does. Something tells me he’s been through similar shit. The way he talks, sometimes, it’s… fucking heart-breaking,” he said, voice catching a little. “And I think he wants to reassure me as much as I do him. I really think, if I’m ever going to get over this, to heal, this is the chance. And I can’t just ignore that.”

Scott regarded his brother for a moment, his face softening.

“Jeez, Virg, way to pour your heart out,” he smiled, feeling a small lump in his throat. The younger man blushed a little.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “You know what I’m like for over sharing.”

“Yeah, but that’s not a bad thing,” Scott said softly. “It’s you, through and through, and we wouldn’t have you any other way.”

“Thanks, Scott,” Virgil smiled, looking up to his older brother with a soft fondness in his gaze.

“I’m serious,” Scott said, his grin faltering a little. “Tycho’s damn lucky to have you, and he’d better know it. I… we only want the best for you, and… I just want you to be careful. I know I can be over protective at times, hell, it’s basically my job, but… I know I caused damage, and I’m sorry, to you and him. And I want to apologise to him too. He’s… he seems nice.”

“He really is,” Virgil replied with a sigh, trying not to think about their phone call this morning while Scott was in the room. “He’s... great.”

“I hope so,” Scott smiled again, feeling relieved as Virgil returned the gesture. “So, how long will you be gone for?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“About a week, I think,” Virgil said, also trying to be nonchalant as he picked up on the tension which had entered into Scott’s voice. “The Hypercar relaunch is this weekend, there’s a party going on which he wanted me to come to.” He paused, hesitating. “I’m, uh, going to be going as his date, just so you know. Like, publically.”

“Oh,” Scott said, a little taken aback. “Are you okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Virgil asked, a little defensive.

“No reason,” Scott forced a smile, “just want to make sure he’s not… you know… pushing you into anything.”

“I’m a big boy, Scott,” Virgil frowned a little, “I can make my own decisions. I just wanted to let you know because there’s going to be, you know, photos and publicity and everything.”

“I know,” Scott sighed, “and I appreciate that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Virgil returned his sigh.

“It’s okay. I know you’re worried. I just want to be honest about this. With the statement that’s going to be coming out and everything, I just want this to go smoothly, for everyone.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Scott smiled, trying to ignore the slightly nauseous feeling in his stomach. “So, what’s the timeframe on today?”

Virgil breathed out, glad Scott was more accepting of the situation.

“Well we’ll be heading to Sydney for my physio, that shouldn’t be too long, hopefully. Then if we can head straight to London from there, we should be there for around 10:30, and that gives us plenty of time to talk about the statement and you can get back in good time too.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Scott nodded. “These time zones are a pain, huh?”

“Little bit,” Virgil smiled, “Tycho was suffering with jetlag real bad earlier.”

“Oh man, that sucks,” Scott said, voice sympathetic. “I guess he’s not used to it, huh?”

“Not really,” Virgil shook his head. He hesitated again, wondering if he should breach onto the other subject he wanted to. No time like the present, he supposed. “So, after the week is up, there’s a possibility Tycho might be coming straight back with me, here,” he said, watching Scott’s reaction carefully. “He and Brains still have a lot to do on Thunderbird 2 and then I think they’re moving on to the others, and I know he has some other projects they were meant to be going over. I just want to make sure you’re okay with him spending more time on the island. I know things are a bit up in the air at the moment.”

Scott took a moment to consider Virgil’s words, the nagging nausea bought on by concern in his stomach flaring up a little.

“I… don’t have a problem with it,” he said slowly, which wasn’t a lie. He really didn’t, if it made Virgil happy. Plus, it would be benefitting them all in the long run, which would be dumb to turn down. “As long as he doesn’t hide out on any more ships and get pulled along to any more rescues.”

Virgil chuckled.

“That I can _promise_ ,” he said. “That was damn scary. But he did well.”

“I’m not saying he didn’t,” Scott nodded, “but seeing what it’s caused, I think we can all agree it can’t happen again.”

Virgil nodded in agreement.

“It won’t,” he promised. “Seeing him out there was… scary. _Really_ scary. You never realise how much danger we’re in every time we go out until you see someone else throwing themselves into it.”

“I know,” Scott sighed. “But if he hadn’t, we could have lost Gordon.”

“He really put himself out there,” Virgil couldn’t hold back his proud smile. “But he’s so humble about it. He wouldn’t accept any praise. It’s kind of odd.”

“Not that odd,” Scott reasoned. “We’re not all that comfortable with it either, and we do it all the time.”

“Still,” Virgil frowned a little, “I guess you’re right but… I want him to be proud of what he did. He really saved us all.”

“Yeah, while Brains was distracted,” Scott said, rolling his eyes.

“Are you seriously trying to pick _another_ fight just after making up for the last one?” Virgil frowned at him again, crossing his arms across his chest as he rested his elbow on his crutch.

Scott looked suitably chastised, dropping his gaze to his feet and heaving a shaky sigh.

“No,” he said, his voice twinged with sadness now. “I…”

“You need to give everyone else and yourself a break,” Virgil said sternly. “You can’t go around fighting everyone and trying to keep them in line all the time, it’s like herding cats, and you’re burning yourself out.”

“I know,” Scott snapped through gritted teeth, “everyone has been going on at me for days about this, I know, okay?”

Virgil put his hands up in a surrender position, shaking his head a little.

“Just reminding you of it. You know I love you, Scott, but damn if you aren’t the most impulsive, stubborn asshole I’ve ever met sometimes.”

Scott frowned at his brother again, arms crossing over his chest.

“Uh, excuse me, did you want that ride to London or not?” he asked, his voice stern for a second.

Virgil’s eyes widened as he regarded his brother, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Scott sensed the tension and smiled, dropping his arms to his side and laughing a little awkwardly, feeling a tiny bit guilty when Virgil’s face broke into a relieved grin.

“Come on, Virg, I’m not _that_ cruel,” Scott chuckled. “And you’re right, okay? I know you are. You pretty much always are. I’m just… a slow learner.”

“It’s fine,” Virgil said, his heart still pounding a little. Conversations like this, the time he had Scott to himself for a short while, reminded him so much of their childhood, all the time they used to spend just hanging out. “We miss you, you know.”

“Why?” Scott asked, tilting his head to the side a little, confused. “I’m nearly always here.”

“Yeah, but you’re so much of a leader now,” Virgil said softly, trying to find the right words to explain himself. “We miss our brother Scott. Leader Scott can be a douche sometimes. A lot, actually.”

“Hey!” Scott frowned at Virgil, his tone playful. “I guess I can be a bit of a douche sometimes,” he admitted, looking at Virgil fondly before his eyes slipped to the digital clock display on the wall. “You’d better finish up soon, Virg, or we’re gonna be late,” he said, eyes widening a little as he saw the time.

Virgil turned, giving a short nod as he continued packing.

“I’d already be done if it wasn’t for the distraction in my room.”

“Uh, I have a name, you know,” Scott chuckled as Virgil threw a pair of socks at his head.

*-*-*-*

Scott sent a comm to everyone to gather in the lounge as soon as Virgil was ready, carrying his bag down for him while Virgil followed, still a little slower than he would like as his knee twinged while he walked.

It felt better than it had done, and his arm was almost healed now thanks to the creams provided. He’d actually been rather impressed with the stuff, the bandages almost ready to come off permanently. There was a rather large scar in the area now, the skin pale and thicker than the rest of his skin, but considering what could have been, he was grateful.

Thank every deity there for the advances in medicine; things could have been a lot different if it wasn’t for modern technology.

“Are you going to be okay?” Scott asked softly as they arrived in the lounge. He abandoned Virgil’s bags by the stairwell to the kitchen, ready to be taken down.

Virgil nodded, wincing a little as he put a bit too much pressure on his knee. Scott noticed, lurching forward as if to catch him but stopping short when it became apparent Virgil wasn’t going down.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, teeth gritted. “I don’t know what’s worse at the moment, the pain or the fear of it getting worse. It’s like, my knee will slip sometimes, there’s definitely movement in there, but it’s not as bad as I expect it to be, if that makes sense.”

“Kind of,” Scott said, sympathetic. “I can’t even imagine it, to be honest.”

Virgil gave him a small smile as they heard footsteps approaching the room, Alan and Gordon both appearing together from the kitchen stairs, in deep conversation.

They both stopped as they spotted the bag parked at the top of the stairs, turning to look at Scott and Virgil.

“What’s going on?” Gordon asked immediately, glancing between the two.

“Come sit down, when everyone’s here, we’ll explain.”

“You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” he asked Virgil, ignoring Scott.

Virgil sighed, nodding.

“It’s not the same as before,” he reassured him. “I’m only going for a week or so. I’m going to see Tycho.”

“Oh,” Gordon said, the relief in his stance visible as he relaxed. “So soon? Wow, you’re a quick mover, Virg!”

“Are we gonna take bets on when the wedding will be?” Alan chirped, a wicked grin on his face. Gordon gasped, looking at him like it was the most amazing idea he’d ever heard.

“Yes!” he shouted, “We are _totally_ doing that. Virg, I’m counting on you _not_ to want a spring wedding.”

Virgil frowned at his brothers, huffing a little.

“Geez, thanks for the support, guys,” he deadpanned, rolling his eyes. Scott held in a chuckle next to him, earning an elbow in the ribs for his trouble.

Laughter erupted from his lips as he bent double at the blow with an ‘oof’.

“I give him two weeks,” he snickered.

“That long?” a voice came from the other side of the room as John appeared, flanked by Brains and MAX. EOS immediately made her presence known, the centre of the table flickering to life with her image.

“I predict that, given your families propensity for short courting periods followed by commitment ceremonies that there is an 86% chance that the courting period for Virgil and Tycho Reeves will last less than three months,” she chirped, sounding far too smug for Virgil’s liking.

“The computer never lies,” Alan laughed, almost bent double as Virgil’s frown deepened.

“I hate you all,” he snapped, struggling to fight a smile as he watched his brothers laughing around him; their joviality was infectious, as much as he hated to admit it.

“You freaking _love_ us,” Gordon replied, struggling for breath.

“I think that it c-could be as soon as t-tonight, the way t-they’ve been talking about each other,” Brains said, a little quieter than the others but still as involved in the joke as they were.

“Shut up,” Virgil said, trying to sound annoyed. He _totally_ wasn’t thinking about seeing Tycho dressed in a suit as he walked up an aisle flanked by his brothers as he blushed furiously. Totally wasn’t.

“What’s all the laughter about?” Sally’s voice echoed up from the kitchen as she appeared from the stairwell, also frowning at the bag sat there. “What’s going on?”

“Everyone is t-taking bets on h-how long it’s going to take Virgil to p-propose to Tycho,” Brains chuckled.

Sally gave them all a disapproving look.

“Boys, what did I tell you about meddling in other people’s lives?” she said sternly.

The room fell silent, each of them looking suitably chastised as Kayo appeared on the stairs from the bedrooms, hesitating on the stairs as she picked up on the tension in the room.

“Thank you, Grandma,” Virgil said, letting out a sigh of relief.

“No problem,” she smiled. “Besides, we all know you won’t last more than a few months.”

The room erupted with laughter again, Gordon and Alan leaning against each other as they struggled to catch their breath, even Kayo laughing behind them as she finally came down onto the level, eyes dancing with amusement as she watched the interaction.

Her gaze turned to John for a moment, finding him smiling at her as the others were distracted. She was unable to stop her smile from widening as he blushed, turning his gaze away when their eyes met.

“You all suck,” Virgil mumbled, flushing bright red again. “And not a word about this to Tycho. I’m serious!” he said sternly as everyone giggled to themselves.

“Come on, Virg, what do you take us for?” Gordon asked him as he walked over to his brother, patting his arm. “We’re just happy for you, that’s all.”

Virgil huffed, frowning at his younger brother. He couldn’t keep up the act though, a smile cracking his façade as Gordon grinned up at him enthusiastically.

“You’re the worst,” he relented, using his free arm to put the blonde in a headlock, Gordon not fast enough to escape his grasp. Virgil ruffled his hair as the others laughed. He released him after a few moments, Gordon looking offended through his giggling.

“Seriously,” he said, fighting back tears of laughter now, “I hope you have a good time. You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” Virgil said, reaching out to pat his head again. Gordon ducked out of the way, weaving his way behind Scott, who bent away from him.

“Don’t use me a shield!” he protested.

“You’re a big brother, it’s what you’re for,” Gordon smirked as Alan bent double with laughter, tears streaming down his face now.

“This is too good,” he choked as everyone’s laughter died down.

“Now we’ve finished mocking my personal life,” Virgil said, trying not to grin again, “I wanted everyone here so I could say goodbye, even if it’s not for long.”

“I take it you’re taking a much needed holiday from this chaos?” Sally asked, looking at him affectionately. “So what’s the plan?”

“I’m taking him to his physio appointment in a minute, then to London,” Scott answered. “Once we’re there, we’ll be talking to Tycho, deciding what’s going to be said in this statement we’re all making, then when I get back, I’ll be giving Colonel Casey our official statement about Russia and Tycho will be making his first thing tomorrow.”

The room suddenly grew serious, all laughter fading.

“And you’re staying with Tycho for a while?” Sally asked Virgil. He nodded.

“Only for a week or so. I’m, uh, going as his date, for the Hypertube re-launch.”

“Like, publically? That’s huge!” Alan said, a massive smile on his face. “Good for you!”

“Thanks, Al,” Virgil smiled at him, grateful for his enthusiasm.

“And t-then you’re coming b-back?” Brains asked, sounding hopeful.

“With Tycho, yes,” Virgil nodded, smiling as Brains literally shook with excitement. “We’ll be heading back together and then he’ll start working on the enhancements you’ve been working on.”

“That’s g-great,” Brains nodded, quite obviously only just holding it together. No matter how long he’d worked alongside Tycho now, he was still often quite star struck.

“And you’re sure it’s safe for you to go?” Kayo chimed in from by the stairwell where she leant against the portrait wall, her arms folded across her chest. “There’s adequate security? Will you be keeping your comm on at all times?”

“Yes,” Virgil rolled his eyes, “it’ll be fine. Tycho’s got his own security just in case, and I’ll be checking in three times a day,” he confirmed, “the usual.”

“Just checking,” she smiled, “glad to see you’re taking your safety seriously.”

He nodded with a short sigh; he loved how dedicated Kayo was, just checking in all the time when they were on shore leave and everyone constantly knowing each other’s locations became a little tiresome sometimes.

“We should get going,” Scott said from next to him, looking at his comm, “we don’t want you to be late.”

Virgil nodded, looking back to his family.

“I’m sorry this is such short notice,” he said, looking guilty, “I just couldn’t say no to an opportunity like this.”

“We understand, hon,” Sally said, moving to embrace him. Virgil returned the hug, trying to ignore the shaking he felt running through her as she pulled away. “It’ll do you some good to be away for a while. You need to focus on healing up, and actually getting some rest.”

“Uh, hate to break it to you, Grandma, but I don’t think he’ll be getting much rest,” Gordon snickered.

“Gordon Tracy!” she chastised him, “don’t talk about things like that in front of your brother.”

“Who, me?” John asked, holding back laughter.

“No, definitely me,” Scott said, grinning as Sally glared at him.

“Well it can’t be me, I know all about how babies come from eggs and are delivered by storks,” Alan giggled.

“I give up,” Sally said, throwing her hands in the air in defeat.

“I find that’s sometimes the b-best thing to do once they get s-started,” Brains consoled her, trying not to join in the laughter.

“Right, we _really_ have to go,” Scott urged Virgil. The younger man smiled at them all.

“You’re right,” he sighed, “I’ll be back in a week or so. _Please_ try not to burn down the island or end the world until then, okay?”

“Well that’s all my plans for the weekend gone,” Gordon laughed, causing Alan to start again. “Take care, Virg, we’ll miss you.”

“You too, Gordo,” Virgil smiled at him.

“Love you, bro,” Alan offered, coming up to hug him. Virgil happily returned the hug, patting Alan on the head as he pulled away, earning him a glare in return.

“Love you too, Al. You behave yourself while I’m gone, okay?”

The youngest Tracy rolled his eyes and waved his hand in a dismissive way.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got Scott here to ruin my fun while you’re away so you have nothing to fear,” he grinned, earning a frown from his eldest brother.

“Don’t have too much fun,” John warned him as he approached, pulling Virgil into a hug, “but seriously, I’m happy for you. You deserve this, to be… you know, happy.”

“Thanks, Johnny,” Virgil murmured as he pulled away, smiling. The younger man returned the smile, his gaze holding nothing but affection.

Brains walked over to Virgil quickly, followed by MAX who looked rather sad that Virgil was leaving, his optical platform pointing towards the floor and none of his usual flare. Virgil couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.

“Hey, it’s okay, MAX, I’ll be back before you know it,” he reassured him. The robot looked up at him, letting out a relieved beep as he shook a little, grateful for his words.

“T-tell Tycho I say hi, and I’m l-looking forward to working on the new enhancements w-with him,” Brains instructed him, still looking far too excited about the whole situation. “Oh, and I h-hope you have fun at the p-party,” he added, winking. “Never been my s-sort of thing, but I’m sure you’ll do f-fine.”

“Thanks, Brains, I’ll tell him,” Virgil chuckled.

“I also hope that you have ‘fun’,” EOS piped up from her position above the table. “From your previous encounters with Tycho Reeves, I predict that there is a 100% chance that you will enjoy intimate contact with him during your trip, and from previous performance, that there is an 89% chance you will both be physically satisfied by the encounter.”

“EOS!” John snapped at her, the entire room breaking into laughter once more.

Virgil glared at him.

“I thought I told you to stop her from monitoring me!” he said, feeling a little betrayed.

“I did, but I can’t control her!” John replied through laughter, trying his best to be serious.

“I only continued monitoring for your safety,” EOS said, her electronic voice tinged with amusement. “Your knee required further monitoring, as your health care professionals recommended. If you wish me to stop I will.”

“Please, please stop, it’s so creepy,” Virgil said, frowning at the AI.

“Very well,” she said, sounding like she was trying to hold in a laugh. Virgil didn’t know if she was simply mimicking the others in the room or genuinely amused, and didn’t know which scared him more. “I will stop my monitoring.”

Virgil was flushed bright red by the time Sally approached him again, an almost sad smile on her face.

“I’m sorry, Grandma,” he murmured, struggling to make eye contact with her. As entertaining as the situation could have been, he found himself more than a little embarrassed at being laid so bare in front of everyone.

“Don’t be,” she told him, “you’re entitled to a personal life. Ignore everyone else. You just do what makes you happy, okay?”

He nodded as she hugged him, giving him a squeeze before letting go.

“Oh, and I expect a souvenir from London, don’t you forget!” she told him, smiling fondly. He nodded, returning the gesture as Scott laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, lover boy. Time to get you checked out and on your way.”

Virgil nodded, turning to head back towards the stairs.

“No parties while I’m gone,” he joked over his shoulder as he hobbled towards the stairs.

He was stopped by Kayo stepping into his path, offering a soft smile.

“You need anything while you’re there, you let me know,” she said, eyes serious. Virgil nodded, smiling back at her.

“You know I will,” he replied, offering his free arm for a hug. She hesitated for a moment before moving to embrace Virgil, the contact short but firm.

Kayo had never really been one for public displays of affection of any kind, so he appreciated her effort.

“I’ll see you all later,” he called back to the room, “please don’t do anything dumb while I’m away.”

“Define ‘dumb’,” Gordon shouted as he disappeared from view.

“When it comes to you, anything!” Virgil called back up as he descended the stairs, Scott picking up his bags and following him down as they headed deeper into the island towards the hangars.

*-*-*-*

“Are you doing okay?” Scott asked as Thunderbird 1 levelled off to horizontal flight, Virgil strapped into the rear passenger seat, his crutch by his feet.

He took a moment to get his bearings, still not used to the tilt of the seats and the way 1 changed flight modes. It made him a little bit queasy and threw him off balance.

“Ugh, how do you do that all the time?” he asked, shaking his head.

“What?” Scott asked, sounding concerned.

“The tilty flying thing. Can’t stand it. Give me VTOL any day.”

Scott gave a bark of laughter as he pushed the control modules into place, the MIDAS system now fully activated as he engaged the RAM jets to their lowest setting and 1 fired off across the sky.

Virgil felt the pressure of the g-forces as the flight system engaged, marvelling through his discomfort at how sleek and fast 1 was. He loved his baby but often found himself quite jealous of 1’s speed.

“You get used to it after a while,” Scott smiled from the front; he seemed so relaxed, flying 1 in his civilian clothing. It was a rather odd sight, and something he hadn’t done in a long time. Of course, he had a spare uniform stashed in one of the storage bins towards the rear in case he was needed at short notice, but for now, he was enjoying the rebellious feeling of flying such a high tech piece of equipment in his jeans and t-shirt.

“So, you excited?” Scott asked as he engaged the autopilot and swivelled his seat to the side to talk to Virgil. The younger man smiled as his comm went off; he’d messaged Tycho before they’d set off, thinking that he should really get his address before they turned up and got lost.

“Yeah,” he smiled as he read through his messages. “I’m nervous about the appointment, but I’m excited to see him again.”

“I’m sure he’ll be excited to see you too,” Scott reassured him. “He seems totally smitten with you.

“Thanks,” Virgil grinned back at him, blushing. His comm went off again.

 _‘Why do you need my address? Something I should know about? ;) xx’_ was Tycho’s most recent message. Virgil bit his lip, trying to think of a good excuse.

 _‘I’ve got you a gift,’_ Virgil typed, trying not to give himself away, _‘I need to know the delivery address. It’s coming later today.’_

Moments later, another message popped up.

 _‘You shouldn’t have_ _:)_ _You’re too cute. My home is Apartment 36, T.R Complex, Wychwood Way, London, SE19 1ER. Work is The T.R Building, Dragoon Rd, London, SE8. Will be at the office from about 9am until half 11, depending on what time you want it delivered ;)’_.

Virgil felt a pang of excitement but also some trepidation. Tycho would be working when they showed up, and they would likely have to go to his work address.

He wondered briefly if he should tell him they were coming, if them literally landing a Thunderbird on top of his building might rock the boat they were all currently in. Another message popping up interrupted his train of thought.

_‘Can’t wait to see what you’ve got me. Hope it’s you with a ribbon on ;) Wishful thinking, hey? Gonna try and get some more sleep. Been dreaming about you all night. Love you. Xx’_

Virgil melted, a goofy smile lighting up his face.

He looked at his world clock; it was 3am in London. He mentally slapped himself and quickly typed out another message.

_‘Sorry for messaging you so early. Totally forgot. I’m an idiot. Forgive me? Love you XXX’_

The reply came through almost instantly.

_‘You can make it up to me when we’re next together. <3’_

A thrill of arousal shot through Virgil as he re-read the words, memories of Tycho’s skin on his, of how he’d felt around him, pulsing and welcoming as he’d fucked him, their phone call and thoughts of what it would be like to fuck him in front of the wonderful view over London, on the hardwood floor of his appointment ran through his mind.

He physically shivered as he typed his response.

_‘Will do. Get some sleep. XX’_

Another almost instant response;

_‘Love you. Night xx’_

Virgil sighed, feeling content as he suddenly remembered he wasn’t alone, looking over to Scott who had a shit eating grin on his face.

“You sexting or something?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Virgil blushed, frowning at his brother.

“No,” he said, embarrassed, “we’re not actually. I was just getting his address.”

“Okay,” Scott smiled knowingly, “if that’s what you kids call it now.”

“Fuck off,” Virgil said, trying to hold in a smile. He and Scott were always more loose with their language when it was just the two of them; too many years of being told off by their mother for swearing in front of their brothers.

Virgil didn’t think he’d ever forget the rage on her face as she’d rounded on him when she’d told Alan to eat his vegetables one night and he’d responded with ‘ _why the fuck should I_?’.  That had _not_ been a fun telling off.

“Afraid you’re stuck with me for a while,” Scott chuckled, giving him a knowing look. “So… now it’s just us, how are things, really? Not just you and Tycho but… the knee, your head, everything?”

Virgil sighed. He should have seen this coming. Scott was crafty when it came to pinning him down and getting answers out of him, even when he fought against answering them or avoided him like the plague.

“They’re… good,” he admitted, surprising himself a little bit. There was no point in lying to Scott, but upon answering, he found that he hadn’t really examined his own wellbeing for a while, and the results were not what he expected. “And not just with Tycho,” he added as Scott raised an eyebrow. “Honestly? I feel… considering everything that’s happened, I’m worried about the knee and how long recovery is going to take, but I’m… good. Everything is good.”

Scott eyed him a little suspiciously.

“So, this whole thing with Tycho hasn’t bought up… you know…” he paused.

“Memories? Worries it’s going to happen again?” Virgil finished for him. “Of course it has. It’s fucking terrifying. I… I really like him, Scott. Like, _really_ like him. And I haven’t… I don’t think I’ve _ever_ felt it like this. When I was first with Ja… with _him,_ ” he spat, taking a moment to steady himself, anger flashing up in him for a second, “it didn’t feel anything like this. This is more… intense. But in a good way,” he reassured as Scott’s eyes widened a little. “Tycho is… he gets me. From the first day I properly spent with him, looking at Thunderbird 2’s console, I had a panic attack and he knew _exactly_ what to do. He didn’t judge, he didn’t mock me, he sat me down, calmed me down and made sure I was okay to carry on. He _cared_ , and… I don’t know what it is, honestly. He explains it better than me, but I feel like there’s this… string connecting us. I just felt like I was pulled towards him, like us being together was inevitable.”

“Some weird kind of fate?” Scott asked, sounding sceptical.

“It sounds stupid, I know,” Virgil admitted, “but yeah. It’s like we were always meant to meet, to feel this. And I know how it sounds; if someone had told me that they felt a connection with someone else strong enough to turn into a relationship in a matter of days, I’d be telling them to be careful, to take it slow, but…”

“You love him?” Scott asked a little abruptly.

Virgil took a moment, thinking carefully about his next words.

“I do,” he replied softly. “I know it seems dumb, after such a short amount of time, but like I said, there’s something we both feel, and I can’t deny me or him that kind of happiness. And he does make me happy, he really does.”

Scott was silent for a moment, contemplating his brother’s words. He gave a short nod as he let out a soft sigh, sounding almost relieved.

“If he makes you happy, then I’m happy for you,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I can’t deny, I do think you’re moving a bit fast, and it’s still got me a bit worried, but I trust you. You’ve always been the sensible one, and you’re right, you shouldn’t deny yourself that happiness.”

“But you’re still going to tell me to be careful?” Virgil said, cocking an eyebrow.

“Hey, that’s what big brothers are for,” Scott chuckled, looking back at him fondly. “I love you, Virg. More than I could tell you. You mean the fucking world to me, and I know I can be… how do I put this… annoying? Sometimes, but it’s only because I care. You and… you’re all I have left,” he said, his voice cracking a little as he swallowed a lump in his throat. “You and the others, you’re… you’re my world. I think I would have lost it a long time ago if it wasn’t for you all, you in particular. You’re my rock.”

“Scott,” Virgil began, utterly touched by his brother’s openness and honesty, wondering how he could possibly respond to such a display of affection when the proximity alarm on Thunderbird 1 began beeping.

Scott turned back forward, pressing a couple of buttons.

“We’re a couple of minutes out,” he said with a soft smile, “better get your shoes on.”

Virgil looked down at his feet, confused.

“What?”

“Just an expression,” Scott waved him off, turning his chair back around into the piloting position, turning the auto pilot off and taking control of the craft again.

“An expression from who?” Virgil asked with a smile, noting Scott’s blush.

“Just, shut up,” he instructed him. “Just get ready.”

“Aye aye, cap,” Virgil chuckled as Scott rolled his eyes and eyed up one of the helipads on top of the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I can't WAIT to share some of the upcoming chapters with you!
> 
> I'm so excited for some of the things I have planned for this, I hope it's gonna make some of you squee with delight!


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finally gets that knee seen to.

The usual reaction to their presence was fear, relief or anger.

Awe, admiration, praise and excitement were rather new, Virgil thought as he looked at the sea of eager eyes, delighted faces that greeted him and Scott as they disembarked from Thunderbird 1 and headed into the hospital.

They were greeted by a member of hospital security, grateful for their presence as they were escorted through the busy hospital, whispers and glances following them.

One of the downfalls of modern technology was the fact that they couldn’t control people taking video and photos, so their faces were everywhere, on the internet, on the news, on forums dedicated to them and even in memes (some of which Virgil had to admit were quite entertaining).

They were celebrities, whether they liked it or not, well known and unable to hide from it, even in a setting as intimate as a hospital.

Finally, they reached the Orthotics floor where the security guard took up a position by the door to the department and instructed them to sit.

They both did as they were told, trying to ignore the eager faces that popped up by the porthole like windows every few minutes, trying to catch a glimpse of them.

“This is weird,” Virgil complained as he leant his crutch on the side of the faux leather chair he sat in, looking uncomfortable as he tried to ignore the prying eyes he felt passing by the window.

“Yeah, it was the same the first time you came here,” Scott admitted. “I guess people are interested in us, but you’re right. It is a bit weird.”

“We’re just people,” Virgil protested, shuffling a little. He still felt the attention on him. “Why do they care so much?”

“Because you’re all damn heroes?” came a strong Australian accent from across the room.

Scott and Virgil both looked up, seeing a familiar face as Caiti appeared from one of the side rooms, dressed in a hospital gown and robe and holding a bundle in her arms.

She made her way over to them, Scott standing up as she approached them with a huge grin on her face.

“Caiti, right?” he asked as Virgil peered at the bundle, butterflies in his stomach.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to remember!” she smiled; she looked exhausted by seemed ecstatic to see them, “yeah, I was…”

“The person who looked after me when I first came in,” Virgil finished for her, “I remember you, you were so nice to us.”

Caiti blushed, smiling widely at him.

“Dai told me he was seeing you early, so I came up to see you,” she explained, “I wanted you to meet my little man. He decided to make an appearance two days ago, only a week late! And he decided to give us all hell in the process, but he’s here, and he’s wonderful.”

She shuffled towards them, slow and careful with the bundle in her arms as she approached Virgil first, bending a little so he could get a good look at the currently sleeping baby swaddled up in layers of cloth that she was holding.

“I wanted you to meet him. I don’t know if you remembered what I told you before,” she directed to Scott now, “about how you saved my father’s life? This is his first grandchild, Virgil Scott Livingston. I just wanted you to say hi and meet him. My dad met him yesterday, and he agreed with the names, he remembered you, and wouldn’t stop going on about how amazing you were, so I thought it was fitting.”

Virgil and Scott both stood silent for a moment, mouths agape as they looked at each other, trying to process the situation.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Scott said, awestruck as he looked down at the tiny child, still sound asleep in Caiti’s arms. “T-thank you? That’s… wow…”

“He’s gorgeous,” Virgil breathed, looking into the tiny child before he offered his arms out; he’d always been a sucker for babies. When Gordon and then Alan were newborns, their mother trusted him the most with them, always gentle and able to soothe them when even she struggled; he just had a knack for it. “Can I?” he asked.

Caiti beamed at him.

“Of course!” she grinned, shuffling forward and leaning to place the child in Virgil’s waiting arms.

He carefully adjusted his hold as he took the weight, looking down at his tiny face as he began to stir a little, whimpers and mewls sounding from his tiny mouth as he wiggled a little.

Virgil looked down on him with wonder, always amazed at how _tiny_ babies were. He rocked him a little, watching as he began to purse his lips.

“Uh oh, I think he’s hungry,” he smiled up at Caiti who looked at him, a little confused.

“How can you tell?” she asked, genuinely curious as Scott rolled his eyes behind him.

“You see he’s pursing his lips like that?” he asked as Caiti moved over to look at her son’s face, “he’s mimicking latching on. It’s kind of an automatic response you see in babies when they’re searching for milk, it’s one of the warning signs they’re getting hungry. You see that, feed him and he’ll never cry when he’s hungry,” Virgil smiled gently as he held out the bundle to Caiti who took him back, looking awestruck at Virgil as she did so. “A lot of people wait until the baby is crying to see what’s up with them, but you can pretty much pre-empt everything if you look for the little signs like that.”

“How…” Caiti began, looking to Scott as he stepped beside her, stroking a hand over baby Virgil’s head.

“Five younger brothers,” he explained, “and Virgil’s always been good with kids. They’re on his level.”

“Hey!” Virgil protested with a grin, “says you who used to draw on the walls with Alan when he was two and you were like 13.”

“I was encouraging his artistic tendencies,” Scott replied petulantly as Caiti looked between them, a little surprised.

“There’s _five_ of you?” she asked, sounding amazed, “wow, your mom must be one hell of a woman! I don’t think I could go through all that again, it was difficult, but _five times_? Wow.”

Virgil chuckled a little sadly.

“She was an amazing woman,” he said, still looking at baby Virgil with warm, fond feeling spreading through him.

Caiti inhaled sharply.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, shaking her head at herself, “god, I’m so stupid, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” Scott reassured her as the bundle in her arms began to stir a little, “really.”

She smiled, a little embarrassed at them as baby Virgil’s mewls became a little louder.

“I think I need to take your advice,” she said to Virgil, “and thank you, for everything. I said it before but, you guys really saved my world, and I wanted to say thank you in the only way I could. I know it’s not a lot, but…”

“It’s incredible,” Virgil smiled at her, “really, it’s an honour, and thank you for it.”

He hesitated for a moment before opening up his comm.

“What’s your direct line?” he asked, taking Caiti by surprise. She shifted baby Virgil in her arms to reach her own comm from her pocket, giving her details over to Virgil who tapped them in. A message popped up on her comm a moment later. “That’s my direct link,” he smiled at her as she stared, bug eyed at the message, “obviously please don’t give it out, but if you need anything, you let us know, okay?”

She nodded, lost for words.

“T-thank you,” she stammered, looking like she was about to cry. “You guys, you’re so amazing. I really don’t have words. Just, thank you, so much.”

“Any time,” Scott said, giving a casual two fingered salute as Caiti began to shuffle out of the room, looking back on them as she back out of the door, one final smile before she disappeared from sight.

Scott turned back on Virgil with a soft frown.

“You’re too damn soft,” he chastised him gently.

“What?” Virgil protested, “she named her baby after us, Scott, that’s freaking huge! And besides, if the poor kid is gonna have my name for the rest of his life, he’ll need some help.”

“What’s wrong with your name?” Scott asked with another frown.

“Nothing,” he replied, “just need to give them money for personalised stuff, that’s all. You know damn well I can’t find my name on anything.”

Scott gave him a knowing look as Virgil pointedly ignored him, finally relenting with a sigh.

“Ugh, fine. I’m also going to set him up a university fund so he can have an education and they don’t have to worry about it,” he admitted, flushing a little.

“There it is,” Scott smiled, knowingly. “Always far too generous.”

“Too generous?” Virgil raised an eyebrow as he looked up at him. “Scott, you do know that the interest _alone_ on my personal account generated nearly six _million_ dollars last year, right? I don’t get to spend it, like, at all. A couple of components here and there, but, overall, I just don’t have anything to spend it on.”

“Yeah, the sad tale of billionaires too busy to waste their money away,” Scott mock sighed with a  grin. “Oh, woe is me and all that.”

“It’s not that,” Virgil frowned at him, “it’s more, if I’m not using it, then what’s the harm in helping other people with it? It’s not like we’re going to run out any time soon, and I’d rather use it to take care of people than I would just hoard it forever. I mean, the island is self-sustaining, the birds are taken care of and we can local manufacture pretty much everything, even the shopping and outgoings are under $50,000 a year. I think we can afford to be generous.”

“I guess you’re right,” Scott sighed, “as always. I just worry about you. You’re too soft sometimes. You give away so much and you don’t even think about it. Just don’t want you to become a target, that’s all.”

“Been there, done that, got the severe telling off from dad, remember? When I paid off that guy I used to go to college with parent’s mortgage when they nearly lost their house? Oh, what was his name… Tony Briggs, him! Yeah, dad went _crazy_ , saying we shouldn’t be ‘flashing our wealth’ when all I did was literally stop them from being homeless.”

“Yeah, and how many people came to you afterwards asking for ‘favours’?” Scott asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Virgil sighed as he thought back. Admittedly, there had been a few. Hundred.

“Yeah, well I’m more discreet now,” he said softly. “It was a learning curve.”

“Still is, sometimes,” Scott admitted. “It’s not the hardest life, obviously, but no-one prepares you for the kind of shit you face when everyone only sees you as a walking piggy bank.”

“Mr Tracy?” a voice from across the hall caught their attention, a young nurse with her head poked around an open door. They both looked up at her as she smiled. “Dr Raffello is ready for you.”

Virgil and Scott shared a look.

“You want me to come with?” Scott asked. Virgil shook his head as he picked up his crutch and pulled himself up.

“Naw, you’re good. Just chill here for a bit.”

“Gotcha,” Scott smiled. “Good luck!”

 

*-*-*-*

Virgil was physically shaking as he walked slowly down the hall to the room to the one he’d been called to. He hesitantly knocked on the door, jumping a little as it slid open.

“Come in, Mr Tracy,” a smooth voice came from inside.

Virgil edged inside the door, feeling more nervous than he could remember being in a long time.

“Uh, hi,” he said, awkwardly as the doctor remained at his desk, tapping away on his computer. He gestured to the chair next to his desk, Virgil hobbling over compliantly and sitting down in the soft chair.

“So,” the doctor turned to him with a soft smile; he was an older man, greying hair and a goatee neatly trimmed. He was dressed in a white jacket and jeans, the professional look somewhat at odds with the jeans underneath his coat and converse on his feet. “You must be Virgil,” he greeted him. “My name is Doctor Raffello, but feel free to call me Dai. I’m overseeing your physiotherapy for the time being.”

“Okay,” Virgil said, still feeling a little off kilter.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Dai reassured him, still giving him a soft smile, “recovering from a dislocation can be an arduous business, and with your line of work, I’m sure you’re eager to get better as soon as you can.”

Virgil nodded, unsure what to say.

“So, how has the knee felt over the past few days? I can see the injury was only a short time ago.”

“Yeah,” Virgil said, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to keep his anxiety at bay. “It’s been… there’s been some twinging, and I felt a couple of slips, like it’s about to go again.”

“That’s fairly normal,” Dai said softly, “the muscles have been stretched quite badly, and in your case, because of the surgery, they’re also fighting to heal. It’s going to take some time to get back to full strength, but I have no doubt you’ll get there.”

“That’s a relief,” Virgil smiled a little awkwardly beginning to relax. Dai was certainly good at giving out a calming aura, and he was beginning to let his guard down. “It’s been a little scary,” he admitted, “there have been times I’ve felt like it will never be normal again. It’s… not great.”

“I’m glad you can be honest about it,” Dai nodded, “that’s always a good thing. Too many people think they can heal through sheer will power alone, but that kind of thinking does much more harm than good. You have to go at your body’s own pace; medicine will only get you so far.”

“So… what are you going to do today?” Virgil asked, a little apprehensive.

Dai turned back to the computer, flicking through some notes quickly.

“Hmm… well you are scheduled for an MRI in three weeks, but right now I can take a quick ultrasound of the knee to check for any fragments that might have be floating around in there, then we can look at getting you some ultrasound therapy for a fifteen minute session and I’ll take you to your orthotist to get your leg brace prescribed and fitted. How does that sound?”

Virgil thought for a moment.

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” he smiled, still a little wary. “It might sound dumb, but… will any of it hurt? I’d just rather know up front.”

Dai smiled at him with an almost fond look as he pulled out a small device from under his desk, a long tube with a rounded ball like object at the end.

“Well this is the ultrasound device I’m going to use. All I’m going to do is use his to run over the joint while you flex it to see inside. You will feel some pressure and you might feel some mild pain when you move but nothing worse than you’ve experienced while walking. How does that sound?”

Virgil nodded.

“Yeah, I think I could go for that,” he smiled a little weakly.

“Good,” Dai praised as he bought out a tube of jelly for the ultrasound machine. “Now if you could please roll up your trouser leg, I’ll get started on having a look.”

Virgil complied, the procedure going as smoothly as it could as he followed Dai’s instructions, bending and flexing his knee while he sat down, then standing and crouching down as much as he could.

Once Dai’s instructions were finished, he bought out another device, what looked to be a brace made of material with a metal ring on either end and components running through it.

“You did great,” he said, placing the ultrasound machine back in the drawer as the data from it transferred onto the computer in front of him. “Now, will you be okay if I put this brace on you? This is what I’ll use for the ultrasound therapy.”

Virgil nodded, lifting his leg as much as he could to help Dai slip the brace over his knee. He pulled it up into position, tightening the rings at the top and typing in a couple of commands on the controls on the side. A soft vibrating sensation began rolling across Virgil’s knee, penetrating the skin and muscle.

“That feels so weird,” he admitted with an awkward chuckle.

“Yeah, it’s a strange sensation,” Dai admitted, “but it won’t be for long. I’ll leave it running while we go through the ultrasound results, alright?”

Virgil nodded, trying to ignore the sensation in his knee as Dai turned the screen to face him a little, black and white images of muscle and bone moving in sequences over the screen.

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that everything has stayed in place nicely, and the muscles that were reattached during the surgery have started healing already. If you can see here,” he pointed at the a white streak on the screen, “the inner muscle of your knee is still quite stretched. It’s a common side effect with the kind of dislocation you experienced. But with some simple physio exercises, we’ll get you back up to strength in no time at all.”

“That’s good, then?” Virgil asked, gritting his teeth as the gentle vibrations still ran through his knee. He was slowly getting used to the sensation.

“It is,” Dai smiled. “I can see here and here,” he pointed at two white dots on the screen, “that you have a couple of bone fragments, but they won’t be an issue. They’ll more than likely calcify and be absorbed into the muscle.”

“And that won’t cause any issues?” Virgil queried warily.

“They’re too small to cause any further damage, if that’s your concern,” Dai replied as he ran through the images once more, finally satisfied he’d not missed anything. “Now, we’ll just wait for your ultrasound therapy to finish and we’ll get you down to the orthotist.”

He over at Virgil’s crutch, tilting his head a little.

“I notice you’re only on one crutch, but your original advice was to limit weight bearing until your next appointment. Is there any particular reason for that?”

Virgil felt a little guilty as he looked from Dai over to his crutch and back to the doctor before holding up his hands, revealing the still slightly blistered skin. He’d managed to use some of the medifoam in their first aid kit to patch himself up, but it still looked sore.

“Oh, that’s not great,” Dai admitted. “Well the one crutch method is okay, if you’re comfortable. Hopefully, after the therapy session and getting your brace fitted, you’ll be able to only use your crutch when not in the brace, so we’ll be weaning you off of them anyway.”

Virgil nodded, processing the information.

“So, what does the ultrasound therapy do?” he asked, curious.

Dai smiled at the question, happy to indulge the younger man.

“The brace emits high frequency ultrasound waves at 432 hertz. A lot of studies recently have found that this frequency actually encourages cell regeneration and can help with speeding up healing, particularly after surgery. What this will do is to strengthen the muscles where they were reattached and keep the cartilage strong, as well as encouraging the cells in your muscles to renew themselves which in turn will help with healing.”

“That makes sense,” Virgil nodded as the machine on his leg gave a series of beeps, indicating the session was complete. Dai went to work, undoing the seals at the top and bottom and helping Virgil removed the appliance.

“How does it feel?” he asked as he placed the brace into the cupboard, winding up the wires as he did so.

Virgil stretched a little, lifting his leg up and testing the muscles.

“I don’t know if it’s psychosomatic, like I’m expecting it to feel better, but it actually feels quite good,” he said, moving to stand without the aid of his crutch, finding the leg felt a lot sturdier than it had done. “That’s quite amazing!”

“Just be careful,” Dai warned him, “the effects are always more pronounced in the first couple of hours after treatment. They will fade a little, so don’t push yourself too much. Speaking of pushing yourself, I need to ask you a couple of questions about your activity since the accident, if that’s alright?”

Virgil blushed a little wondering how invasive these questions were likely to be.

“Uh, sure,” he smiled, trying to mask his embarrassment. If Dai noticed anything, he didn’t say so.

“Alright then. Let’s start with your general activity. In your house, are there stairs and have you been using them?”

“Yes,” Virgil replied. “There are quite a few; we do some elevators but I’ve been trying to use the stairs to keep as active as I can.”

“Well, while that’s admirable, I wouldn’t push yourself too hard,” Dai advised. “It’s still early days. When you’re going down the stairs, is there any pain in the knee at all?”

“A little. I have to take the steps one at a time when going down, but going up is easier.”

“And where is the pain centralised?”

Virgil pointed to the top of his knee.

“Around here, it’s like a stretching pain.”

“Okay,” Dai said, typing in some notes. “Right, onto exercise and physical activity. How much exercise have you done since the accident compared to what you used to do before it?”

“Well I used to work out every other day, but since the accident I’ve not really been back to the gym,” Virgil admitted, “mainly because I’ve been a bit too scared to.”

“And what kind of workouts do you do when you do go to the gym?”

“Uh, a bit of everything, cardio and treadmills, some weights, upper and lower body workouts, quite a lot of resistance training as well.”

“Right, sounds quite balanced,” Dai noted, tapping more information into the computer. “I’d obviously advise taking it easy with the lower body resistance training, particularly the ones which involve you bending your knees or taking weight on your legs before you feel ready, and when you go back to it, to build back up slowly. Your body will have changed a little with what it can take, but that’s not a bad thing. We’re just working on getting you back to normal as fast as we can without compromising your recovery. As far as cardio goes, if you’re going to start running, again, build back up slowly. Don’t be tempted to push yourself.”

Virgil nodded along as Dai spoke, taking in all of the information.

“With weights, I’d advise focusing on upper body as a main workout and starting back up slowly with lower workouts. Do you do any crossfit or deadlifts?”

“No,” Virgil shook his head, “that’s a little too intense for me.”

“Hey, no judgement here,” Dai laughed, gesturing to his arms and own wiry frame, “personally think crossfit is a bit… odd. The medical implications are huge for such little gain. But hey, each to their own.”

Virgil smiled, feeling much more relaxed with him now.

“Thank you for the advice. I’m honestly looking forward to getting back into the gym. I feel so lazy just sat around,” he admitted.

“You need to rest as much as you need to exercise though,” Dai said, eyeing him to make sure he was taking it seriously. “Now, what’s your diet like?”

“Not as balanced as I’d like,” Virgil admitted. “I get a lot of protein and way too much fibre.”

“Fruit and vegetables?”

“When I remember,” Virgil chuckled.

“Well try and remember more,” Dai smiled. “Drinking and smoking?”

“Drink occasionally, don’t smoke any more, only in college,” Virgil admitted.

“Good,” the doctor replied, making a couple more notes. “Now, finally, is there anything that you can’t do which you used to be able to? And is there anything in particular that’s bothering you?”

Virgil felt like he must have been beetroot red as he tried desperately to think up a plausible explanation for wanting to ask what he did.

“I, uh… I can’t get on my knees for, uh, yoga, any more,” he said, sounding unconvincing even to himself. “It’s a bit of a pain, quite literally,” he chuckled awkwardly.

Dai nodded, either not noticing or ignoring his awkwardness.

“Right,” he nodded, “yoga is good for your recovery too, just again, take it slow. As for the using your knees, you should be able to put some pressure on them by now, but the brace I’ll take you to get in a moment should also help with the stabilization and flexibility.”

“Great,” Virgil smiled, relieved, “thank you for all your help.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Dai smiled, gesturing for the door. “Now, I just need to do some walking exercises with you to see how your posture is in motion, and we might as well do that on the way to see your orthotist.”

“Okay,” the pilot nodded, reaching for his crutch.

“Not with the support,” Dai instructed. “I want to see how well you can mobilise without it for moment.”

Virgil swallowed hard, his nerves returning as he looked at his crutch almost longingly, worried about the pain that might come with walking without it.

“You’ll be fine,” Dai reassured him, sensing the change in him. “I’ll be right behind you, and I’ll bring the crutch with us if you do need it.”

“Okay,” Virgil repeated, taking a deep breath as he pushed himself up, wincing at the slight grind he felt in his knee.

“Do me a favour,” Dai said, catching his attention, “sit back down, then get back up but try putting more weight on your bad knee.”

Virgil nodded, putting his trust in the doctor. He braced himself, pushing up and shifting his weight onto his bad leg. To his surprise, he found that it felt stable and a lot stronger than he expected it to as he straightened his body, standing up to his full height. He felt almost lost without his crutch, looking to Dai, who nodded, encouraging him to take a step.

Taking the smallest step possible, Virgil shuffled a little, hissing when his bad leg caught a little on the floor.

“Try and walk as normally as you can,” Dai said, moving behind him to grab his crutch. Virgil took a deep breath, nodding and steadying himself; he could do this.

He lifted his good leg, feeling the odd pressure of the still healing muscles on his injured side as they took his weight and he took a step. It was a small victory, but as he lifted his bad leg and moved forward, he felt rather triumphant. All focus on walking, he tried to balance himself.

It was slow going, a journey down the hallway which should have taken only a few minutes taking nearly ten as he shuffled himself, entirely concentrated on his steps.

Dai remained with him the entire way, silently observing.

When they finally reach the orthotists office, Virgil had found a bit of a rhythm, his body remembering how to do this without the aid of a crutch, but his leg was stiff and beginning to ache quite badly.

Dai greeted the orthotist, a blonde woman around his aged named Abby who presented him with a leg brace like he’d never seen before; it was an almost mesh like material, like a sci-fi looking brace which fastened in two points with pressure locks around his knee and formed to his leg perfectly when she fitted it. He immediately felt the pressure it provided, holding his knee in place and supporting him as he stood and took a few steps with it. It was the closest to normal he’d felt in some time, and he was close to tears by the time he made it back across the room.

“That is… amazing,” he grinned. His leg may still have been aching like crazy, but he felt stable for the first time since his accident, and that was huge. “Thank you, for everything,” he said, smiling between Dai and Abby.

“You’re welcome,” Dai smiled back.

“I’ve sent some gentle exercises to strengthen your hamstring muscle and ligaments to your comm,” Abby said, her accent a lot stronger than Dai’s. “Do them at least twice a day and you’ll be back to your old self in no time.”

“I will,” Virgil promised. “Really, this is amazing, I don’t feel like my leg is about to give you any more. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

“You can thank us by being off those crutches then next time you come back here,” Dai smiled. “And be careful with the leg brace, we don’t want you to be too dependent on it. Best rule to follow is maximum of six hours on, and never wear it overnight. I’ll send you an appointment for around four weeks’ time, then we can review and see about getting you back on lighter duties at work.”

Virgil held in a snort of laughter; he didn’t think there _was_ such a thing with International Rescue.

“Brilliant. Thank you both, so much. Really,” he said earnestly, “for seeing me today and for everything you’ve done.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Abby smiled. “We’ll see you at your next appointment.”

Virgil took it as his cue to leave; they were obviously trying not to be rude but there must have been other people waiting for appointments. He said goodbye, taking his crutch back from where Dai had left it by the door and fitting it back on his arm.

As confident as he felt, Dai was right; there was no point in pushing it right now.

He walked back to the waiting room, finding Scott playing with comm, a brick breaker game up on his projector.

“Oh man, does Brains know you’ve installed that on there?” he asked, making Scott jump a little.

“No, and he’s not going to,” he smiled, shutting his comm off. “How did it go?”

Virgil held up his crutch and took a couple of steps unaided; he was still a little off balance, but it was huge progress.

“That’s awesome!” Scott praised him as he put his crutch back down and shuffled his weight back to lean on it a little.

“Yeah, new leg brace, and I’m feeling a bit more confident,” Virgil smiled back at him. “I think I’m doing okay.”

“You’re doing great,” Scott grinned at him. “Now… we need to get you to London.”

Virgil’s stomach fluttered; in all the excitement and trepidation of the appointment, he’d almost forgotten that they were about to head to see Tycho.

“Want to give me the address?”

“Sure,” Virgil grinned, beginning to feel a little giddy as he tapped on his comm, sending Tycho’s work address over to Scott.

“Right, let’s get going, lover boy.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Never,” Scott winked, laughing when Virgil rolled his eyes and huffed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh it's gonna kick off soon!
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed the appointment. I was trying to keep it realistic while also thinking about advances in technology that may have happened by the time TAG is set, hope it makes sense to everyone!
> 
> xx


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just business, bro!
> 
> [Explicit depictions of oral sex]

Tycho was bored. Utterly bored.

It was only 9:47am and he’d already been in two meetings about staff etiquette and scheduling, and now he was sat in the projections forecast with his (board appointed) advisor and Saz who was busy taking minutes, and he wanted to be literally anywhere else as quickly as possible, lest he start crying from the boredom.

He’d not had a bad morning; he’d woken up at 6am with his alarm, made himself a relatively healthy breakfast of oats and a handful of fruit, done his morning workout and had been ready to head to his lab when he’d remembered Virgil messaging him last night.

Opening the messages he’d received, he re-read them over and over, wishing the other man were there with him. He knew it was silly and childish to want him around all the time, and it made him feel like a schoolgirl with a crush, but dammit, that’s what he was at the moment.

Virgil was the ideal he never knew he’d had; every one of his partners before had been his own build or skinnier, usually blonde, shorter or the same height, and he’d always considered it a type preference.

But as soon as he’d laid eyes on Virgil, for the brief moment after the Hypercar incident, when he’d seen him come out to check on his brothers and their gaze had met, it was all Tycho could do to hold back from running over and introducing himself, desperate to know more about him.

He’d cursed the press presence that had driven him away, but had been so preoccupied with everything else going on afterwards that, by the time Brains invited him to the island, he’d almost completely forgotten his attraction to him.

But seeing him there on the patio as they all came out to greet him, strong, muscular, tall, with brown eyes that lit up in the sun like aged whiskey, he’d had to admit to himself he’d been smitten there and then, and Virgil speaking to him, his voice deep and husky, had only fuelled his desire.         

He’d never been one to believe in things like love at first sight, putting it down to lust or other, primal reactions. But when he thought about that moment, when they’d first shaken hands and he’d felt a piece of his heart slip away, he had to wonder if such things existed.

Reading through the messages, he’d lingered on one in particular;

_‘I’ve got you a gift, I need to know the delivery address. It’s coming later today.’_

What could he possibly have gotten him? The thought, the possibilities had been fluttering around his stomach all day.

Virgil was so kind, so generous, but Tycho did not want anything from him. If anything, he wanted _him_ in place of a gift. His presence would have been the greatest gift that he could give him.

But Tycho would never ask him to abandon his home, his family just for him. He couldn’t be that selfish. Virgil was healing, he needed rest, not cross continent travel at the request of a lovesick idiot who couldn’t stop thinking about him all day. Definitely not.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his name coming from the advisor, bringing his attention back into the room.

“Mr Reeves, were you listening to anything I just said?” the man, Chay, a fairly young guy with a slicked back haircut, obviously far too young and inexperienced to be in such an important role, likely a favour from a friend’s father or the like asked, exasperated.

Tycho looked at the graph and where he was pointing, as well as the quite obvious power point he had open on his screen.

“Something about stock fluctuations during the Hypercar event?” he asked, sounding as bored as he felt. Saz tutted at his tone from her seat next to him. “Look, I’ve been over all of this already, I really don’t understand why we’re doing this again. I _know_ stocks are going to fluctuate after what happened last time, and I keep telling you, we can deal with it.”

“Yes, but Mr Reeves, your investors,” Chay began.

“Can like it or lump it,” Tycho said through gritted teeth. “I have control of my company, and I will continue to steer it in whatever way I see fit! If they continue to have an issue with it, they can bring it up at the next meeting.”

“Ty,” Saz warned him, “you need to listen to him.”

“I _have_ been listening,” Tycho protested, “and they’re all chatting rubbish. All of this is just a pointless exercise to make it seem like I have no idea what I’m doing, like I’m trying to pretend everything is okay. I submit my own risk report ever quarter, I understand what my personal life, what impact every decision I make, down to the bloody socks I wear will have on stocks, I know it all. Why they have to _insist_ on sending someone who, no offence, Chay, but knows next to _nothing_ about the running of my business to lecture me on the running of said business is beyond me.”

A beat of silence fell over the room before Chay cleared his throat, feeling a little awkward.

“Mr Reeves, I can assure you, the board only put me in place to ensure that their interests are being met. I’m only presenting information they have concerns about to make sure you are aware of any potential situations which may arise as a result of business or… uh, personal choices you might make.”

“I know, Chay,” Tycho sighed, “and don’t get me wrong, I’m not attacking you, I know you’re doing the best darn job you can, I’m just frustrated at the lack of trust that’s come in since…” he hesitated.

“Since Laughlin arrived?” Chay chuckled looking around the room as if expecting the mentioned man to appear.

Saz and Tycho looked at him, a little taken aback.

“Look, I may be speaking out of turn here,” Chay said, voice hushed as Saz and Tycho leaned forward to hear him better, “but he _freaks me out_ , man. Seriously, he’s _weird_. Like, I see the way he follows you around all the time in here, it’s like he’s waiting for the second you’re on your own to do something _really_ nasty. I wouldn’t trust him, at all, and I think all of the instability in the board, all of the messing about going on, it’s all him.”

He looked down for a moment, biting his lip as he hesitated.

“Look, Mr, Reeves, I like you, I really do. I think what you’re doing is incredible. My aunt and her sister live in one of your apartments, they would _never_ have been able to afford it if it wasn’t for you and… and I…” He swallowed again.  “He told me not to say anything, but… Laughlin? He’s here. Right now, in one of the meeting rooms. And I… from what I overheard the other day, I think he’s going to try and buy out a couple of board members. I just… I can’t let him do this sneaky shit behind your back any more. You’re too… you’re a good guy, and he’s just…”

Saz stood up immediately, panic on her face as she looked at Ty.

“The only two members here today are Williams and Forne,” she said, sounding stricken. “If he gets them, he’ll have an extra twenty eight percent… seventy one percent of all free stock…”

“He’ll have majority,” Tycho said, eyes wide as Saz bolted from the room.

“Chay, thank you. You need a job? You’re hired. However this ends, you’re safe, okay?”

“Thank you, Mr Reeves,” Chay stammered, a little bewildered as Tycho went to leave, stopped by a gasp from the advisor, drawing his attention to the window as the other man looked out, distracted by something above the building. “Uh… Mr Reeves?” he asked, breathless.

Tycho heard the engines before he saw the bright silver and blue fuselage swoop into view, running to the window to join Chay to watch Thunderbird 1 where it hovered, lowering its landing gear to settle down on the helipad on top of the building.

Chay looked up astounded.

“Is that…”

“International Rescue,” Tycho finished for him, his head spinning a little, “yes, it is.”

He turned back to the door, torn between his next action. This _had_ to be what Virgil was talking about. He had to be here.

Looking down to his comm, he pressed it, opening his direct link to Teddy.

“Ted? You still here?”

“Always, boss,” came the instant reply.

“I need you to do me a huge favour.”

*-*-*-*

As Thunderbird 1 touched down on top of the Tycho Reeves building, Virgil was shaking like a leaf, adrenaline coursing through him.

“What if he doesn’t want to see me?” he asked Scott, voice quivering. “What if I’ve made a mistake?”

Scott sighed as he shut down the engines and made sure the computer was offline before turning to his brother, giving him a sympathetic look when he saw just how nervous he was.

“You said you talked to him about this yesterday, right?” he asked softly, moving from his seat and crouching in front of Virgil, who nodded in reply. “Right, and what did he say to you? What were his exact words? Can you remember?”

“That he missed me, that he wanted me there,” Virgil replied, feeling a little dizzy as the anxiety continued to snake up his spine.

“And now you’re here, you think that’s going to change?” Scott asked with a soft smile, “You think he’s _not_ going to just throw himself at you and not want to let you go? You think I’m _not_ going to go be sick in a corner at all the love flying around the room?”

That raised a smile from Virgil, the corners of his lips turning up until he was holding back a giggle.

“Come on, you moron,” Scott urged him as he stood up, “your boyfriend will probably be waiting, eager to stick his tongue down your throat. I’m _so_ going to end up having nightmares about this, aren’t I?”

“Shut up,” Virgil muttered, flushing bright red as he unbuckled his restraint and moved with Scott to the hatch of 1 as it opened, the built in stairway descending.

It wasn’t Tycho waiting for them when they descended onto the helipad; rather, there was a hulking man dressed in a smart black suit, hand folded in front of him who nodded to them as they approached. He looked _terrifying_.

Scott and Virgil shared an apprehensive look as they walked up to him.

“I’m Teddy,” he introduced himself in a thick London accent, face stern and voice loud over the hum of the London traffic below the building. “I’m Tycho’s head of security and personal bodyguard. He’s sent me up to get you. I’m going to take you down to where he is right now. There’s a bit of an… incident… going on.”

“Incident?” Virgil asked, concerned as he saw Scott glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Business stuff,” Teddy assured him. “Now, before I take you in, I have one, very important question to ask you.”

They both nodded, waiting for something security related, utterly surprised when Teddy whipped his phone out of his pocket.

“Can I take a selfie, man? This is fucking wild!” he gestured at Thunderbird 1, a huge grin splitting his previously stern face.

“Uh, yeah, sure, I guess?” Scott said, caught completely off guard by the switch in personality.

“Great, come on, squeeze in, I’m a biggun,” Teddy laughed, turning and ducking in front of them, adjusting his phone until he managed to get him, both of them and Thunderbird 1 into the frame, snapping a few photos as both of the boys smiled a little awkwardly.

“Oh, man, my mates are gonna be so jealous!” Teddy laughed, pocketing his phone again as he waved them inside, taking them towards the elevator. “So, which one of you is he banging?” he asked, as casual as if he was asking about the weather.

Scott erupted into laughter as Virgil blushed furiously, trying not to giggle at the absurdity of it all.

“Guessing it’s the blushing one, right?” Teddy asked as he summoned the elevator, laughing along with Scott. “So you the brother?” he directed at Scott, who nodded, trying to compose himself while Virgil glared at him.

“Yep, older, I might add,” he said.

“Oh, man, Ty said you were American, but you’re like, _American_ American.”

“Americ… what does that even mean?” Scott asked, genuinely confused as they all piled into the compact space of the elevator.

“Like, proper American,” Teddy explained. “Not like ‘howdy partner’,” he put on a surprisingly convincing southern drawl, “I can understand you, ya get it?”

“Um, kind of?” Scott said, shrugging a little.

“Yeah, like, you’re proper American. I like it. Was afraid you’d be hicks and I’d be having to get out some translate app, yeah?” Teddy smiled. “You’re quiet,” he directed at Virgil, who flushed again. “You nervous?”

He nodded automatically.

“Don’t be,” Teddy reassured him. “He’s done nothing but talk about you since he got back, you’d think you was married or something. It’s great.”

“Thanks, I think?” Virgil murmured, eyes focusing on the space in front of him as the elevator gave a ‘ding’, signalling its arrival at their floor and the doors slipped open.

They all shuffled out, Virgil still using his crutch as a safety net.

In front of them were a set of thick, wooden doors with ‘board room’ written in cursive script across them, emblazoned above with the TR logo of Tycho’s company.

From the other side of the door, raised voices could be heard, one of them definitely Tycho’s, the accent impossible to miss.

Virgil was worried, and it showed as he shuffled, a little awkwardly while they waited patiently with Teddy, who looked equally concerned.

Another voice on the other side of the door grew louder, the words unintelligible but vicious sounding.

The tone caused Virgil’s stomach to drop, sensing a serious issue unfolding inside.

He turned to Teddy.

“You’re his security, right?” he asked, noting how tense the larger man seemed. He nodded in response. “Don’t you think it sounds a bit… I don’t know… dangerous in there? Shouldn’t you go and have a look, make sure everyone is alright?”

Teddy regarded him for a moment before a small smile crossed his lips.

“You,” he said, pointing at Virgil. “I like you. Stay here,” he instructed as he walked towards the doors, opening them and poking his head inside.

“Everything okay, boss?” he asked, cracking the door open just enough for Scott and Virgil to catch a glimpse of Tycho inside, stood next to a furious looking red haired woman. The inventor looked over, catching sight of Virgil and staring for a moment, his eyes longing before he turned to the other side of the room.

“Give me a moment,” he instructed them sharply, walking towards the door.

Virgil’s heart was hammering in his chest as he watched his lover approach. Teddy moved back, allowing him to slip out of the room and close the door behind him.

A beat passed as Virgil and Tycho just looked at each other, neither believing the other was actually there, so close to each other again.

“Surprise?” Virgil offered, hesitant as he took in Tycho’s frame, the tension that he held.

A smile suddenly split Tycho’s face as he rushed to the pilot, wrapping his arm around him.

“You are amazing,” he breathed as Virgil returned his embrace, taking a deep breath as relief washed over him, “but you have the _worst_ timing.”

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, sounding as concerned as Virgil felt.

Tycho regarded him for a moment as he pulled away from Virgil, giving a short nod in greeting.

“Long story short, there’s a total dick in there trying to buy up a majority share of my company, right under my fuc… sorry, right under my nose. Thought he could be sneaky, buy out two other shareholders and come straight up, demanding control of the company, little slimeball.”

“That’s low,” Scott said disapprovingly, “who the hell is this guy?”

“His name’s Laughlin Pars,” Tycho explained quickly, “he’s the C.O.O of a tech firm which has a tendency to decimate any business it takes over, real shady deal, and he’s about to take control of mine.”

“Shit,” Virgil muttered, brain going into overdrive as he tried to think of a solution.

“Shit indeed,” Tycho sighed, wincing as he heard Saz raise her voice through the doors. “Listen, I need to get back in there, but…”

“Is there anything we can do?” Scott asked, desperate to help. He liked Tycho, and seeing him as flustered and stressed as he was worried him.

“Unless you’ve got a spare fifty million or so laying around, I don’t think so, unfortunately,” Tycho sighed, looking to Virgil. “Look, I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” He turned to Teddy, nodding towards the door. “Might need you in there, T, just for appearances, you know?”

“Intimidation? Can do, boss,” Teddy smiled, immediately returning to the serious look he’d had when he’d first greeted them and opening the door to let Tycho back into the room.

With one last longing glance back at Virgil, Tycho was back behind the door as it closed.

Scott looked at Virgil, who was biting his lip now, deep in thought.

“You’re about to do something _really_ dumb, aren’t you?” he said with a sigh.

“How did you guess?” Virgil deadpanned, raising him comm and opening his accounts app.

*-*-*-*

Laughlin grinned at Tycho as he re-entered the room with Teddy in tow.

“Things getting a bit much for you, Reeves?” he sneered, Saz bristling as Tycho moved next to her again. Laughlin regarded Teddy for a moment, almost looking apprehensive before snickering. “Trying to intimidate me now? A bit cheap for you, isn’t it?”

Tycho ignored him, turning to Mike Williams and Barry Forne, the two investors who Laughlin had bought to the meeting. They were both two of the older members of the board, old money and strong business men, but something felt off about the way they were shuffling around, awkward and shaking their heads at Laughlin’s manner.

“Is there anything I can do to make you reconsider?” he almost pleaded with them. “If there’s something about the business you want changing, I can take it under consideration, I…”

“It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly,” Williams said plainly, shaking his head. “I like you, personally, but… You’re a risk, Tycho. Laughlin is right, you are too much of a maverick to maintain this kind of high in the stocks for long. I know a problem when I see one, and I don’t want to be on this ship if it goes down. I’m moving my money elsewhere. For what it’s worth, I’m… sorry. And I wish you all the best, but…”

“It’s just too risky,” Forne cut in. “With all of your ventures with International Rescue, we cannot guarantee that you won’t get dragged into that as well, and if your focus is on non-profit, that leaves us much worse off than we would like.”

“See, Reeves, it’s like I said. You’re only ever two people away, and now, I’m going to _own_ you.”

“You’re going to sell to someone who acts like _that_?” Tycho asked them, outraged. “You _hear_ that? You think _he_ would be better for the company than I would?”

“They _know_ I would be,” Laughlin laughed, “I mean, for one, I’d stop all this charity nonsense. Charity is for tax breaks at the end of the year, nothing else. If you think you’ll get anywhere helping people, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. You can’t invest in hopes and dreams, Reeves.”

“You’re…” Tycho began, about to say something he would have regretted when there was a knock on the door, drawing all of their attention.

Tycho nodded shortly to Teddy, who walked over and opened it, revealing Virgil and Scott. They entered the room looking more stern than Tycho could ever remember seeing them, a surprisingly professional air about them.

“Virg,” he began, but Scott cut him off as they entered the room, standing at the end of the long board table.

“So, if this is a business deal, we want in,” he said sharply, looking to Laughlin, who laughed.

“Who the hell are these clowns supposed to be?” he asked Tycho, looking them up and down. It was only then that Tycho noticed Virgil was walking and standing without his crutch. Making a mental note to ask later, he looked to Laughlin, about to answer when Virgil spoke.

“We’re Virgil and Scott Tracy of International Rescue and Tracy Technologies Incorporated,” he said, his tone flat. He was in full business mode, one that was only usually reserved for GDF meetings and investigations. “And we’re here to make an offer on the stocks that you,” he gestured to the two men at the end of the table to who suddenly looked very uncomfortable, “are looking to sell.”

Laughlin gave a drawling laugh, drawing their attention.

“Sell to you?” he snickered, “ _you’re_ the reason they’re selling up! You and your little ‘organisation’. You’re a liability, a risk, in every sense of the word. Non-profit and unpredictable, and now driving people away from businesses. I guess I can’t really complain, I mean, after all, I’m now going to own majority shares in one of the largest tech companies in the world because of it, so I guess I should be thanking you, really.”

Virgil pointedly ignored him as he watch Tycho shift from side to side, far too tense for his liking.

“Whatever he’s offering you,” he directed at Williams and Forne, “I’ll double it.”

The room fell silent, everyone shocked by Virgil’s offer. Tycho just stared, stunned as Saz’s mouth fell open in shock.

“M-Mr Tracy,” she said, stammering as she went through the notes on her comm pad, “with all due respect, I don’t think you quite understand the magnitude of Mr Pars’ offer. He’s buying Mr Williams and Mr Forne’s stock at three times their original value, a total of seven and half million pounds for Mr Williams stock and nine million for Mr Forne.”

Virgil nodded, doing quick sums in his head.

“So that will be fifteen million for Mr Williams and eighteen million for Mr Forne. Understood. Would you prefer instant transfer or partial for tax purposes?” Virgil asked, bringing up his comm, ready to action their decision.

Laughlin laughed, trying to seem nonchalant, but there was an edge of panic in his cold, blue eyes now.

“You can’t be serious,” he spat, “just who the _hell_ do you think you are, coming in here and making offers like this? This is absurd, this was meant to be a _private_ transaction,” he turned to Tycho.

“Which you arranged, without my knowledge, in _my_ building,” Tycho reminded him. “I have the right to decide who goes where at all times, or did you forget that, Laughlin?”

The lithe man was fuming, slicked back hair beginning to fall out of place as he sweated out the situation, his face beginning to turn red with anger as he turned on Williams and Forne, glaring at them.

“You can’t seriously be considering accepting this, right? Do you know who they _are_? They’re the reason you’re jumping ship!”

Forne stepped forward, ignoring Laughlin.

“Can you do an instant transfer against stock?” he asked, “right now?”

“I can,” Virgil confirmed, eyes darting to Tycho who was shaking, looking backwards and forwards between him and the board members, Saz whispering something to him as she shuffled closer. Tycho looked back to him, his eyes fearful.

Williams and Forne turned towards the back of the room, speaking with each other in hushed tones.

Laughlin looked between them and Virgil where he stood, app still active and ready to transfer the funds. After a moment’s deliberation, the two older men turned and Forne spoke up.

“We will accept your offer, Mr Tracy. If you don’t mind, we can arrange the transfer immediately, and we will transfer the stocks to you straight away. We can sign the…”

Laughlin cut in, furious.

“This is _bullshit_!” he spat, bright red now and fuming, his hands clenched in fists at his side, “you can’t do this to me, we had a _deal_! You can’t back out now!”

Williams shook his head.

“Like you said, Laughlin, this is all just business. It would be a terrible decision on our parts not to take Mr Tracy’s offer. Of course, if you can offer us any more than him, we could always reconsider, but unless you’re willing to commit to it and match his instant transfer, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

There was a smug sort of satisfaction in his tone which seemed to tip Laughlin over the edge.

“This is… this is fucking bullshit!” He turned to look at Tycho over the table in the centre of the room, eyes wide and spit flying from his lips as he shouted, “You’re fucking _done,_ Reeves! This isn’t over. I’m going to get your stock, and I’m going to get this fucking company, if it’s the _last_ thing I ever fucking do, do you hear me?”

Tycho felt a wave of anxiety rise up, but looking at Virgil, then to the utterly shocked faces of Williams and Forne, he felt bravery swell inside him.

“Teddy, could you please escort Mr Pars from the building,” he said to the hulking man next to him who nodded, making a beeline for the furious man as he began marching to the door, making a point to stand between him and both Scott and Virgil as he turned to them on the way out.

“Fuck you,” he spat at them as he passed, leaning around Teddy’s massive frame. He focused most of his aggression on Virgil. “I’m going to bring you down, I’m going to fucking _ruin_ you. You fucking wait, International Rescue is going to be…”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Scott cut him off, silencing him. “You’re going to ruin us, you’re going to stop us, we suck, yeah, heard it all before. Not being funny, Mr Pars, but if master criminals like the Hood can’t stop us, what makes you think that a nobody like you who’s stumbled into a bit of money and gone hog wild will? You’re just another bit of pollution in the lake, and we’re cleaning you up. Now do be careful on the way out, wouldn’t want that door to hit you,” he smiled sweetly, Virgil barely holding in a laugh as Laughlin began shouting and swearing again, ushered out of the room by Teddy.

As the door closed, Virgil forced down his smile and looked to Williams and Forne.

“Now that mess is done with, shall we get down to business, gentlemen?”

*-*-*

It took all of fifteen minutes for the transfer of funds and stock to complete, both parties satisfied at the transaction, though Virgil had a hard time concentrating on the process as Tycho stared at him with an unreadable look which gave him butterflies.

The gaze was intense, and Virgil honestly couldn’t tell if he was angry or not.

Once all the business was concluded, Williams and Forne signed their side and went on their way, both apologising to Tycho on their way out for going behind his back, insisting they had no idea that Laughlin had planned all of this without his knowledge. He forgave them and wished them well before shutting the door just as Teddy reappeared and slipped inside, leaving on the two of them, Saz, Scott and Virgil in the board room, all giving an almost simultaneous sigh of relief.

“Did he give you any trouble on the way out?” Saz asked Teddy, her fingers still tapping on her screen as she made sure the stock transfer had completed. She had no spoken directly to either Scott and Virgil so far except to confirm Virgil’s details, but now looked up to them, satisfied her part of the transfer was complete.

“As much as you’d expect,” Teddy told her as he sat in the large chair at the head of the table, his massive figure making the furniture look comically small as he lounged back, his arms folded behind his head. “Practically had to kick him out the door. Like a bloody rabid badger, he was.”

“He certainly seemed like a pleasant guy,” Scott chimed in.

“Oh, man!” Teddy sat forward suddenly, “that thing you said to him, when he was leaving, that ‘don’t let the door hit you’, that was fucking great!” he chuckled, earning him a frown from Tycho as the inventor made his way to Saz once more, looking over her shoulder to the comm pad she was holding. “Sorry boss, just get over excited,” he apologised. “But seriously,” he turned to Scott again, whispering a little, as if it would stop Tycho from hearing him, “that was great!”

He gave him a thumbs up, which Scott awkwardly returned with a smile.

“So… introductions?” Saz said, nudging Tycho, who was now staring at Virgil again.

“Oh, er, right,” he said, bought out of his own little world. “Saz, this is Scott and Virgil Tracy of International Rescue, Scott, Virgil, this is Sally Hoff, my business manager slash assistant.”

“You can call me Saz,” she offered, “and let me just say, that was one _hell_ of an introduction.”

“We like to make an entrance,” Virgil smiled, still wary of Tycho’s gaze as it fixed on him again. He was _sure_ he was annoyed, it was the only explanation for the way he was looking at him right now.

“Excuse me?” Teddy piped up from his chair, raising an eyebrow at Tycho.

“Oh, right, guys, this is Teddy, my head of security.”

“Terrence Parks the third, actually,” he frowned at Tycho, “honestly, you work for someone for years and they don’t even know your name, terrible.”

Tycho rolled his eyes.

“Ignore him, he thinks he’s funny.”

“I’m bloody hilarious!” he protested.

“Matter of opinion,” Tycho sighed. “Teddy, this is Scott and Virgil Tracy.”

“I know, I met them at the helipad like you asked me to, remember?” he said, Tycho frowning at him.

“Then why did you ask for an introduction?”

“I dunno,” Teddy shrugged, “just seemed like if Saz was getting one, I should get one too.”

Scott couldn’t mask his laughter; he liked Teddy already.

“This is fun and all,” Saz cut across them, “but now the excitement has died down a bit, I was hoping that we could go over a few things? We’re going to have to go over the business process for stock, meeting arrangements and the like, and we still have to arrange this statement we’re supposed to be making regarding the Russia incident.” She looked pointedly at Scott. “I hear you’re the one in charge of that?”

“That would be me,” Scott sighed, “always the bearer of bad news.”

“Seems like we have that in common,” she chuckled, brushing a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. Tycho raised an eyebrow at her, watching their interaction warily.

“Oh my god, get a room, you two!” Teddy laughed from the end of the table.

“Ah, talking about getting a room, could I ask that we move this meeting up to my office?” Tycho said. “Comfier chairs and we can grab a drink. And, uh, I was hoping to have a moment alone with you, Virgil, if that’s okay?”

Virgil nodded, giving Scott a reassuring look as his brother glanced to him.

“Yeah, boss, just remember, if the table breaks, we’ll know what you were doing!”

“You’re fired,” Tycho smiled at him, blushing as he stood up, moving to the door along with Scott and Saz.

“Yes!” Teddy pumped his fist in the air. “Third time today! New record!”

Saz giggled a little as they all filed out of the room, turning before she left.

“Ten minutes, okay? Then we have to get on with… everything.”

Tycho nodded to her.

“Oh, and Virgil,” she called, drawing the pilot’s attention, “thank you.”

He nodded as he watched her leave, closing the door behind her.

Tycho immediately went to the door and locked it, breathing a sigh of relief as he was left alone with his lover.

“Teddy seems like a real character,” Virgil said as he stood, taking it slow. His crutch was still leant on the wall outside the now locked door, and even though the brace was taking a lot of his weight, he was beginning to feel the same ache from earlier building in it. “And Saz is nice,” he added, trying to break the silence that had descended on the two of them.

Tycho still hadn’t moved, still facing the door, taking steady breaths. He moved slowly towards the inventor where he stood.

“Tycho?” he asked as he approached him, fear bubbling up in his stomach. “Have I… are you angry at me?”

The inventor span around, wide eyed as he looked at Virgil.

“Am I angry? You turn up unannounced, burst into a meeting with one of my biggest competitors, your brother insults him, winds him up and gets him thrown out, you spend over fifty _million_ pounds of your own money saving my company from the clutches of one of the worst people I’ve ever met, and you think I’m _angry_ with you?” he asked, taken aback. Virgil nodded slowly, unsure if there was something he was missing.

Tycho sighed as he surged towards him, catching Virgil a little off guard as he wrapped his arms around him, their lips meeting in one of the most passionate kisses they’d shared so far, all tongues and teeth as the table behind them pressed into the small of Virgil’s back.

The inventor slipped a hand around the back of Virgil’s head, pulling him closer as his other hand went to his hip holding him in place.

Virgil groaned as his own hands found Tycho’s waist, resting there as he relaxed into the kiss, relishing the feeling of having Tycho’s lips back on his.

It was only a short moment before they broke apart, both pulling back and just looking at each other, eyes blown wide with lust as he breathed each other in, minds racing.

“I know it’s only been a few days, but _fuck_ , I missed you,” Virgil admitted, leaning forward to peck Tycho on the lips again. The action drew a groan from the inventor, who pressed himself forward again, grinding his hips against the pilots. Virgil moaned as Tycho pressed their mouths together once more, flicking his tongue against Virgil’s lips.

“When we get back to mine,” Tycho growled as he pulled back to look at him, “I am going to get on my knees and thank you, for as long as you want. Fuck, Virgil, you fucking…”

“Thank me for what?” the larger man asked, a soft smile resting on his lips as he gazed over his lovers face, the happiness he felt at being back with him eclipsing everything else in that moment.

Tycho gave him an odd look.

“Seriously?” he asked, the situation suddenly hitting him. Now everything had calmed down. The adrenaline in his system was fading, and he soon found it replaced with anxiety, his mind full of all of the ‘what if’s’ as he panted for breath, his head beginning to spin.

“Hey, are you okay?” Virgil asked, reaching out for his lover and pulling him close, a soothing hand on the back of his head as he pressed his head against the pilot’s neck.

Tycho nodded, his mind still playing catch up.

“You actually did that,” Tycho breathed, pulling away from Virgil’s embrace. The larger man let him go without protest, giving him a curious look.

“Did what?”

“That!” Tycho said, eyes wide, “you bought the stocks, you… you saved… Virgil, you don’t… I’ve worked so hard for this, built this from nothing, and he was going to come in and… you… you stopped him from… _fuck_ ,” Tycho choked as tears began to sting at his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Virgil reassured him, moving forward and wrapping an arm around his waist as he pulled out one of the plush meeting chairs and guided him into it. “Just take it slow, nice deep breaths, that’s it,” he encouraged as Tycho steadied himself, chest heaving as he tried to calm himself down.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Tycho murmured, “that was… fuck, Virgil, I’ll pay you back, I swear, I…”

“You damn well won’t,” Virgil smiled at him, “I’m an investor now, you don’t pay back investors. We’ll keep the stocks, and we’ll work on this, together, okay? And I’m gonna make damned sure no-one takes this away from you. Not while I have a hand in it.”

Tycho looked up at him, eyes blown as he felt pure affection coursing through him.

“I fucking love you,” he breathed, the overwhelmed feeling beginning to ebb away as he looked up into chestnut eyes.

“I love you too,” Virgil murmured, leaning down to kiss Tycho again.

The larger man thought for a moment as they kissed, his hands moving to Tycho’s shoulders, pressing him back into the chair as he deepened their kiss.

Tycho moaned at the action, pulling away slightly as Virgil gingerly shifted down, putting his bad knee onto the ground and testing the weight, his good one following as he broke the kiss.

“W-what are you doing?” Tycho asked, watching him with some concern. “Your knee, it…”

“Shut up,” Virgil instructed him. Tycho complied, immediately closing his mouth. “You remember what I told you when I called?” The inventor nodded, swallowing hard. “Just relax, okay?” Virgil cooed as his hands found their way to Tycho’s belt, deft hands undoing the buckle and moving to the zipper.

“Are you seriously going to do this?” he breathed, his cock beginning to harden at the prospect.

“What do you think?” Virgil grinned as he urged Tycho up, pulling his now open trousers and boxers down a little.

Tycho gasped as Virgil exposed his sensitive flesh to the air of the office, strong fingers fishing his cock out of the material and wrapping around the base, pumping gently, almost experimental.

“Gonna make you cum for me,” Virgil purred, eyes fixed on Tycho’s as he ran his free hand up one of the inventors trembling thighs. “I want you to say my name when you do, you understand?”

It was all Tycho could do to nod as Virgil bought his lips to the head of his cock, pressing a soft kiss to the tip.

Tycho groaned, watching his every action as his tongue flicked out, lapping at his slit. He couldn’t fight the moan that was torn from his lips, battling to keep his eyes open as pleasure coursed through him.

“Virgil,” he whispered as the larger man opened his mouth a little more, taking the head of Tycho’s cock into his mouth. “Fuck!”

Virgil grinned around his cock as he began bobbing his head slowly up and down, his pace slow and controlled as Tycho writhed and moaned above him, one of his hands moving to the back of Virgil’s head.

He felt the pilot tense a little at the touch, immediately moving his fingers to his neck and resting on the soft skin there. Virgil seemed okay with that as he resumed his relaxed pace, fingers still around the base of Tycho’s cock, pumping what parts of the length he hadn’t yet taken into his mouth.

The slow pace continued for a minute or so before Virgil picked up his pace, removing his hand entirely and diving down onto Tycho’s cock, engulfing his full length.

Tycho moaned, long and loud as he struggled to stop himself from bucking his hips up, the feeling electric as Virgil’s tongue pressed against him while he continued to bob his head, the pressure delicious but not quite enough.

“Virgil, please,” he pleaded, unsure quite what he was asking for. He just wanted _more_.

The pilot’s eyes were still fixed onto Tycho’s as he hollowed his cheeks, increasing the pressure as Tycho bit his bottom lip, trying to hold in the moans threatening to spill from his lips.

“Fuck, you, feels so good,” Tycho managed as the larger man pulled off almost all the way, sucking hard on the head of his cock, the sensation overwhelming the him.

He let out a long moan, his fingers digging into the back of Virgil’s neck, drawing a low growl from the pilot as he dived back onto Tycho’s cock, the action taking him by surprise.

“Virgil!” he gasped, unable to stop his hips from bucking up. Virgil groaned around him, pulling off all of the way and looking up at him,

“Fuck my mouth,” he instructed him, his voice gravelly and rough from having Tycho’s dick in his mouth, “fuck me until you cum, you understand?”

Tycho nodded, closing his eyes and biting his bottom lip as Virgil’s soft, warm mouth enveloped him once again. The pilot’s hands moved to Tycho’s hips and pulled him forward a little, encouraging him to thrust into his mouth.

The inventor complied, losing himself to the sensation as he bucked his hips up, thrusting into his lover’s mouth and setting a punishing pace. He began to thrust wildly, Virgil’s mouth so warm, met and welcoming that he could not bring himself to stop, throwing his head back and letting out a mewling moan.

Virgil’s nails dug into the soft skin of his hips as he let Tycho control the motions, relishing in the way he fucked him with abandon.

It wasn’t long before the familiar heat coiling in Tycho’s stomach began to creep through his entire body, snaking through every nerve like a vine.

“Virgil, fuck, I’m… I’m close,” he warned his lover, trying to shift back, to make Virgil break his contact. The action only made Virgil more determined, his hands pulling Tycho even closer, his mouth taking Tycho down to the base and staying there.

The sensation pushed Tycho over the edge, his hips bucking, cock sliding into Virgil’s throat as he came hard. He let out a cry, almost screaming Virgil’s name as he threw his head back in ecstasy, waves of pleasure crashing over him as he writhed and thrashed, the larger man’s hands still holding him down as he swallowed all Tycho had to offer.

Once his lover was spent, Virgil pulled away, sucking the remnants of his seed from his cock and placing a gentle kiss to the tip as he rocked back on his knees, a sly grin on his face.

Tycho looked at him like he was heaven sent, gesturing for him to come closer. The pilot complied, grunting a little as he shifted from his knees, bracing himself on the table as he stood back to his full height and leant down to kiss Tycho.

The inventor swiped his tongue around Virgil’s mouth, moaning into the kiss at the taste of himself on his tongue, hands clutching at his back.

“Fucking hell,” he whimpered as they drew apart, his mind hazy from his orgasm, “I think you’ve ruined me.”

Virgil chuckled lowly, his voice even more gravelly than usual from their activity as he spoke.

“How so?”

“You’re amazing,” Tycho breathed, looking up to him with an awed look, “I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone who makes me feel as amazing as you do.”

“Looks like you’re stuck with me then,” Virgil grinned, offering Tycho his hand. “Come on, we should get going. They’ll be wondering where we are.”

Tycho cocked his head to the side, a questioning look on his face.

“What about you?” he asked softly, hands beginning to reach for Virgil’s belt. “You must be in pain,” he reasoned, looking at the prominent bulge in his jeans.

The pilot shook his head, batting his lovers hand away.

“Later,” he promised. “I know you’ll make it worth the wait.”

Tycho frowned at him.

“I can’t leave you like this, it’s not fair, not after…”

Virgil shushed him, leaning back down for a kiss.

“You can indulge me later,” he whispered against his lips. “You have no idea what I have planned for you. I’m going to need all the strength I can get.”

A shudder ran through Tycho’s entire body, his cock beginning to stir again already.

“Screw the meeting,” he breathed, “let’s go home now.”

“You know we can’t do that,” Virgil laughed softly, giving Tycho a fond look as the inventor finally took his pre-offered hand and stood up from the chair, immediately going about tucking himself back into his trousers.

“Don’t tell me that,” Tycho muttered, “why do we have to be responsible all the time?”

“It’s not for long,” Virgil reassured him. “I’ll have you naked and screaming for me again before you know it.”

“You’re cruel,” Tycho murmured, frowning at him.

“And you love it,” the larger man grinned.

“I love _you_ ,” Tycho countered, caught off guard as Virgil pulled him by the belt loops of his trousers against his body, pressing their hips together and bringing his mouth to his.

“I love you too,” Virgil whispered against him, moving to turn back towards the door. “Now let’s g…”

He gasped suddenly, his bad knee giving way a little, causing him to stumble. Tycho’s hands were immediately on him, steadying him.

“Shit! Are you okay?” Tycho asked, sounding frantic, “your knee, is it…”

“It’s okay,” Virgil said, gritting his teeth. “Just a bit of movement, that’s all. Might have pushed myself a little too far.”

“I’m sorry,” Tycho blushed immediately, “you shouldn’t have…”

“Shhh,” Virgil smiled softly at him, his eyes betraying his pain. “I enjoyed it as much as you. I’ll be fine, really. Just need my crutch.”

“Where is it?” Tycho asked, looking around the room.

“In the lobby,” Virgil said, hissing a little as pain shot through his leg. “I’ve got a new brace, supposed to be weaning myself off of them.”

“Stay here,” Tycho instructed him, hurrying to the door. He unlocked it and was back in a matter of moments, the crutch in his grasp. “Here,” he offered, handing Virgil the crutch. The larger man nodded in thanks and fitted it back onto his arm, sighing in relief as he shifted his weight onto it and found his balance again.

“Thanks,” he murmured. “Had a physio appointment earlier today, they think everything is going ok, just need to take it easy.”

“And that was taking it easy?” Tycho asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That was totally worth it,” Virgil winked at him, glad to have some of the pressure off of his knee. “Besides, I owed you.”

“You owed me?”

“Yeah, after… you know… the shower?” Virgil blushed a little, memories of their time together, of Tycho’s lips on his cock playing through his mind.

“Yeah, I think I owe you a _whole_ lot more,” Tycho frowned at him again, his face softening when Virgil gave him a fond smile.

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, voice soft.

“Are you kidding me?” the inventor asked, annoyed by his modesty. “You _saved_ me, Virg,” he insisted, “if you hadn’t have come here, if you hadn’t have done what you did, right now I’d be handing over control of the company I’ve built from nothing, my entire life’s work, to a man who wanted to tear it all down. You… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you, but I want to spend every day I can trying to.”

“Tycho,” the larger man breathed, reaching his hand out to cup his cheek when the sound of someone clearing their throat at the door caught both of their attention.

“Uh, you guys done or you need some more time?” Teddy asked, poking his head through the open door Tycho had left when he went to get Virgil’s crutch.

“We’re just coming,” Tycho assured him, giving Virgil a fond smile. “I take it Saz is getting impatient?”

“No,” Teddy admitted, “but if I have to watch her flirting with that Scott any more, I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“Flirting?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow. “Scott is flirting?”

“Like a mad man, and _really_ badly,” Teddy nodded, chuckling to himself, “and she’s _loving it_ , by the way.”

“Now this I _have_ to see,” Virgil grinned, holding in a laugh as Tycho shook his head.

“You two are gonna cause me hell, aren’t you?”

“You know it, boss,” Teddy laughed, holding the door open for Virgil as they all headed to the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O...M...G... 
> 
> Been SO excited to share this chapter with you guys!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, I spent a lot of time going back and adding to this.
> 
> Really hope I did the idea proud, I'm so excited where I'm going with this now!
> 
> (Plus a little bit of smut thrown in for good measure, oh, that insatiable Virgil :D)


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott flirts, Teddy is amusing and Saz is already done with Scott's shit.

“So does your brother do this a lot?” Saz asked as she went through the draft of the statement she’d prepared, transferring the files to Scott’s comm as she did.

“Do what?” Scott asked, reviewing the files with interest, impressed at the level of organisation.

“Swoop in and save the day. Oh, what I am I saying, of course he does. This is just another rescue, really,” she laughed, brushing another stray strand of hair behind her ear as she looked up at the pilot, stomach fluttering as Scott grinned at her.

“It’s kind of what we do,” Scott admitted with a smile, leaning on the wall as he watched Saz work. He’d been picking up on her signals, but he wanted to make sure it was mutual before he made a fool of himself. “Though not usually in this way. Virg always has wanted to get into business.”

“Well that was a hell of a start,” Saz smiled, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know if you realise what he just did? He… Laughlin, he’s been trying to undermine Tycho for months, buying up every scrap of stock he could, desperate for a majority. If he’d got it…” She shuddered a little. “I don’t even want to think of the kind of damage he could have done. He’s an opportunist, and your brother he… I can’t even put into words how grateful I am, how we all are.”

Scott smiled at hearing her praise for Virgil; he’d been unsure of his decision when he’d first started moving his funds backwards and forwards, ready to commit whatever it took, but hearing the impact he’d had, he was beginning to see the true value of what he’d done.

“I’m sure he’s thrilled he could help,” he smiled. “He’s pretty smitten with your boss, you know.”

“Well there’s something about you Tracy boys,” Saz admitted, trying to pretend she wasn’t stealing glances at the pilot as he leaned casually against the wall in front of her, clothes tight in just the right places, his muscular frame obvious under the material, “maybe it’s just the whole ‘being heroes’ thing, but you’re… different, in a way I can’t quite understand. And I can see why Tycho has a thing for your brother. He’s…”

“Special?” Scott finished for her. “Even amongst us, he is. Virgil’s the best of us, for sure. I don’t know what we’d do without him, honestly. He keeps us all on the straight and narrow. He’s always been that way.”

“It takes something really special to do what you do, though,” Saz said, tone earnest as she locked her gaze on Scott. Their eyes were shockingly similar, both a pale, icy blue, and if she was a romantic, she’d swear there was a spark between them as they met. “You help people with barely a thought for yourselves. I mean, how long did Virgil take to decide to buy the stocks today? Less than ten minutes?”

“Less than five, actually,” Scott grinned. “Once he’s made his mind up about something, there’s no force on earth that can stop him. He’s tenacious.”

“An admirable quality, if not a little bit worrying,” Saz smiled softly, her comm beeping. “Shit. Laughlin’s made an official complaint against the company. Oh well,” she sighed, “I can deal with this later.”

Scott frowned.

“He likes to cause you grief, huh?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“You have no idea,” Saz sighed again, tapping a couple of things into her comm.

“Is he likely to be an issue going forward? I mean, if he’s tried to buy out two of your board members already…”

“The rest of our members are fairly stable,” Saz admitted, “but Laughlin, he… he always seems to be able to destabilize people, convince them to do things you’d never think they would. It’s rather… disconcerting.”

“That’s not good,” Scott murmured, mind going into overdrive as he thought about Laughlin’s possible connections. “I’ll tell you what, we have an agent here in the London who might be able to find out if there’s anything… untoward, going on with this Laughlin. If you can send me everything you have on him, I can get her to investigate.”

Saz raised an eyebrow.

“Isn’t that a bit… morally dubious? Spying on people?”

“It’s not spying,” Scott reassured her, “only investigating public records to see if there’s anything obvious, or any discrepancies. You’d be shocked at how many times people with something to hide don’t cover their tracks.”

“And what if he’s not some evil mastermind?” Saz asked, still a little uncomfortable with the idea as she frowned at Scott, “what if he’s just a regular old asshole?”

Scott laughed, the sound making Saz’s stomach flutter a little, though she hid it well.

“Then I’m sure we’ve got a few more spare million laying around to help you out,” he winked, causing her to blush.

“We’d never ask you to,” she murmured, “though I appreciate your generosity.”

“Like I said, it’s what we do,” he smiled at her, feeling a nagging flutter in his stomach as she smiled at him.

There was something about her, something just under the surface that he could sense about her, and he was intrigued.

“Well I’m glad you do,” she said, smiling softly. “So, what’s your story, anyway? I know that Virgil’s here for Ty but you…”

“I’m just the taxi driver,” Scott explained with a grin.

“That’s one hell of a taxi.”

“Only the best for my little bro.”

“Well, while you’re here, we should go over the statement we’re releasing later today. I just wanted to run through the points we’ve made, make sure you’re happy with it and hopefully have a look at the draft of yours.”

“Draft, right,” Scott grinned awkwardly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. Saz frowned at him.

“You _have_ got a draft statement prepared, right?”

“Uh… sort of?” Scott replied, flushing.

“Yes or no, Mr Tracy,” she sighed, crossing her arms.

“Well, I was just going to sort of… improvise?” Scott chuckled softly. “Pre-planning isn’t exactly my strong point.”

Saz shook her head.

“Nope, that isn’t going to happen. Come, here,” she gestured to the chair next to her. “We’re going to go through the statement I’ve prepared, then we can start on yours, okay?”

“Alright,” Scott nodded, walking over to the seat Saz had indicated, not missing how she flushed a little while he approached.

“So,” she slid her data pad over to him once he’d sat at the table, “this is the final draft of Tycho’s statement. If you could have a read through and any amendments you’d like me to…”

“ _Final_ draft?” Scott questioned with a raised eyebrow, cutting her off. “Just how many drafts do you have?”

“Well this would be the fifth iteration of this particular statement,” Saz explained, gesturing to the data pad.

“ _Fifth_?” Scott asked, mouth agape. “That’s… wow.”

“I have knowledge of this thing called ‘organisation’, Mr Tracy. I suggest you familiarise yourself with it.”

“Call me Scott,” he smiled, enjoying how her eyelids fluttered a little. Scott knew he had an effect on most women; he wasn’t bad looking and he usually knew the right things to say, but Saz was definitely different. There was a kind of defiance in her, spirited as she was, that made him want to know more about her, to push her buttons and see what made her tick.

“Alright, Scott,” she tested, the name hanging on her lips for a moment, “if you wouldn’t mind reviewing the statement…”

“So, are you Tycho’s P.A or…”

“Business manager,” she rolled her eyes, though there was something about her look that made his stomach flip again, “now, please, if you can review the statement and…”

“And how long have you…”

“Okay, look, Scott,” she turned to him with a sigh. “I appreciate you trying to get to know me, but unfortunately, we are on limited time today. If we can focus on business for now, I’ll be happy to schedule in some time when we can get to know each other on a more personal level, without the pressing matters at hand.”

“Like… a date?” he asked, a sly grin on his face. Saz blushed again.

“I don’t date investors,” she said flatly, “it would be more of a… business lunch. To discuss _business_.”

“Well, technically, Virgil is more the investor. I’m currently just an… interested party,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Saz sighed and shook her head, though her grin remained.

“You’re terrible,” she murmured.

“You catch on quick,” Scott chuckled, “it’s kind of hot.”

“That’s highly inappropriate,” she chastised him, her cheeks tinged with pink.

“It’s practically my middle name,” he grinned, enjoying the effect he was having on her.

“Scott ‘Highly Inappropriate’ Tracy. Has a ring to it. Mind if I add it into the press release?” she smiled sweetly back at him.

Scott raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I think that would be quite interesting,” she replied, regaining a little of her composure as she reached over for the data pad Scott had been ignoring. “Let me just make the amendments and I’ll…”

Scott grabbed her hand, stopping the motion of the pad.

“You know what, I think I’ll just review this version instead.”

Saz grinned at him, victorious.

“Good,” she nodded softly. “Let me know if I’ve missed anything.”

Scott sighed, knowing he was defeated but unable to feel bad about it. He’d always been a terrible flirt, and Saz was keeping up with him well. Maybe this would go somewhere, maybe…

His thoughts were cut short as the door to the office slid open, revealing Teddy as he reappeared, Tycho and Virgil behind him, their hands linked.

“Finally!” Saz frowned at them. “Do we even _want_ to know what you’ve been up to?”

“Not really,” Tycho smiled, side eyeing Virgil, who blushed bright red. “How are things in here?”

“Just going over the statement we’re putting out tonight,” she explained, glancing to Scott who was scrolling through the document, looking bored.

“This is thrilling stuff, honestly,” he sighed, coming to the end and sliding the pad back to Saz. “Yep, all looks fine.”

“Good,” she smiled at him, trying to ignore the hungry look he shot at her, daring her to restart their banter in front of the others. “Now, we need to work on your draft.”

“Draft of what?” Tycho asked, confused.

“Their statement,” she sighed, “apparently they haven’t even got a first draft yet.”

“Look, don’t start on me!” Scott protested, “We’ve never had to put out an official statement before! Usually the GDF handles all of that for us as part of our operations license. This is an… unusual situation.”

 “As that may be, we’re still going to have to get you prepared,” Saz said, scrolling through her files until her eyes flicked up to Tycho, seeing the tired look in his eyes. “Ty, are you okay?” she asked, pausing in her action.

“Yeah, just tired,” he admitted, “didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“You should go home,” she encouraged him. “Scott has okayed the statement on our part, so I can release it at 5pm as planned. That way we should make the evening news and the weekend newspapers. Plus, I have a feeling we’re going to be here for some time,” she sighed, nodding towards Scott.

“Hey!” he protested indignantly. Virgil chuckled.

“Well you haven’t always been the best with words, bro,” he reasoned.

“Fuck off,” Scott retorted petulantly, folding his arms and huffing.

“Case in point,” Virgil grinned at Tycho who returned the gesture.

“Yes, well,” Saz cleared her throat, shaking her head at Scott. There was definitely something about him piquing her interest. “Either way, we can take this from here. You’re more than welcome to go home if you’d like. I’ll contact you if anything else comes up.”

“Are you sure?” Tycho asked, concern obvious in his tone.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t say it,” Saz smiled softly. “And I’m sure you and Virgil are eager to… catch up.”

“You’re the best,” Tycho grinned at her.

“You gonna be okay left alone?” Virgil directed at Scott. “Can I trust you not to embarrass me in front of our new friends?”

“Get fucked,” Scott retorted, huffing again.

“I intend to,” Virgil winked, drawing a laugh from both Tycho and Teddy, and a disapproving sigh from Saz.

“Yeah, well you won’t get far without your bags,” Scott pointed out. “They’re still up in 1.”

“Teddy can get them,” Tycho suggested, quickly realising his mistake, “uh, if it’s okay with you guys, of course? If not, you can always chuck them out later and I can have them delivered by one of my staff?”

“He means me,” Saz sighed again, shaking her head.

Virgil and Scott exchanged a look before Virgil gave a short nod and Scott sighed in response, taking a small, silver disc from his pocket.

“I think I’m going to be stuck here for a while,” he admitted, side nodding to Saz and mouthing ‘bossy’, something she didn’t miss. She fixed him with a glare as he threw the disc to Teddy. “This will get you into 1. No joyriding, and I’m serious, don’t touch _anything_. We’ll know if you do. And no photos of the internals, you got it?”

Teddy caught the disc, looking at Scott in disbelief.

“Seriously? I get to go _inside_ that thing?” he asked, far too excited for a man of his size and stature. It was almost comical. “Oh, bro, this is like, the _best_ thing ever, seriously! I’ll be right back,” he insisted, backing out of the room, still rambling, “like, just a sec, I’ll get the bags and, holy shit, I’ll be right back!”

He turned and practically sprinted out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“I think he’s a little bit excited,” Tycho mused with a smile while Virgil stood, open mouthed and staring at his brother.

“Did you just _actually_ trust the key to Thunderbird 1 to someone from _outside_ the organisation? Who are you and what have you done with Scott?”

“Look, your boyfriend trusts him. Besides, it’s not like just anyone could fly her,” Scott retorted.

Virgil shook his head and shrugged as Scott rolled his eyes at him and turned to Saz.

“Is this going to take long? Only, we never know when we’re needed. Not that I’m not enjoying the stellar company,” he added, winking at her. She made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes back at him, trying to fight the grin that was still fixed on her lips.

Virgil snorted with laughter.

“Honestly, Scott, anything that moves, huh?”

“Shut it, you,” Scott snapped at him as he leant across the table a little in a put on casual pose, leaning on his elbow and trying to look suave. Tycho and Virgil shared a look, both holding in laughter.

“We should head downstairs. Teddy will be down in a bit with your things, then we can head back to mine, if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course, “ Virgil smiled, looking back to his brother as he sat at the table, trying to look at the words Saz was currently typing out onto the pad in front of her. “Scott, you okay with me going now?”

“What?” he asked, suddenly realising what was happening. “Oh, yeah, shit,” he said, standing up from his seat and moving to Virgil. He embraced him tightly, giving him a firm squeeze before he pulled away. “Don’t forget to check in soon, or Kayo will be on your case,” he reminded him, “and remember, you need anything, you let us know. You just take care and relax, okay? And you,” he said, turning to Tycho who flinched a little, unable to stop the recall of the last time Scott was this close to him. “I’m… I’m really sorry, about the way I behaved before. I wish I had time to make a proper apology, but I really need to get this sorted.”

“I understand,” Tycho smiled softly at him, “and it’s all water under the bridge. Really,” he added, trying to reassure Scott who still looked apprehensive. “Thank you for all of your help today, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Bah, it was all Virgil,” Scott smiled as he gestured to his brother, who blushed a little, “he wasn’t going to let you down. He’s like that.”

Virgil blushed and shuffled around a bit, embarrassed by the praise. Tycho looked at him, a little bemused.

“You mean… all of that money… was yours?” he asked, eyes wide. Virgil nodded. “You… I can’t believe you’d do that… for me,” he breathed. Scott looked between them, grinning.

“So… you two are gonna have a good night tonight, huh?”

“You have no idea,” Tycho breathed, still staring at Virgil like he was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.

“And I really don’t want to,” Scott chuckled, clapping his arm on Virgil’s shoulder. “Seriously though, have a good time. You need a break from the mad house. We’ll see you in a week or so, yeah?”

Virgil nodded, still all little flustered from the praise from Scott and Tycho’s constant staring.

“Yeah,” he murmured, “love you, Scott.”

“Love you too, V,” Scott smiled, turning dramatically back to the table. “I suppose I’d better get on with this draft of yours, then,” he sighed at Saz, who slid her data pad over to him.

“Already done,” she grinned sweetly, “just read it through and check for any amendments needed and it’s yours.”

Tycho and Virgil held in laughter as Scott just stared at the pad.

“Already? But…”

“I’m good at my job, Mr Tracy, now if you wouldn’t mind…”

She was cut off as the door to the office swung open and Teddy crashed into the room, holding Virgil’s bags above his head.

“I got the bags!” he all but shouted, panting for breath and placing them on the floor before bending double, inhaling deeply a couple of times before offering the silver ident disc back to Scott. “I didn’t sit in your seat, by the way, didn’t at all.”

Scott frowned at him, then sighed.

“As long as you didn’t take any photos,” he shook his head. Teddy nodded.

“Scout’s honour,” he grinned, turning to Tycho and almost dancing on the spot like a teenager squeeing. “That was soo cool!”

“Bless you, Ted, you’re so easily amused,” Tycho chuckled. “We’re gonna head off, Saz. We’ll catch you in a bit.”

“See you later, Ty,” she smiled, still grinning smugly at Scott as he read through the statement she’d prepared for him.

“Catch you later, Scott,” Tycho added, getting a short wave from the other man, still deep in concentration. “Teddy, you mind grabbing the bags?”

“Sure thing, boss,” he grinned, still ecstatic from his trip up to 1. “I still can’t believe I got to do that, this is the best day of my freaking life!” he grinned as he grabbed the bags. “Now, let’s get you two love birds to your love _nest_ , shall we?”

Virgil blushed as Tycho chuckled.

“Yes, let’s,” Tycho agreed, eyeing his lover with a hunger which made Virgil’s stomach flip. This was definitely the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a little bit of a story/filler chapter but there's TONNES of smut coming soon!
> 
> I've fallen in love with Teddy a little bit and Saz will have a LOT more to say in future chapters.
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying this, I'll hopefully update as soon as tomorrow for some more Tycho/Virgil goodness!
> 
> (Still haven't thought of a ship name for them yet btw)


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Tycho finally get some alone time.

It was all Tycho could do to keep his hands off of Virgil as Teddy took them on the short drive back to his apartment complex. He put it down to partially not believing that Virgil was actually _here_ , but also the shock of what had happened in the board room not quite sinking in.

Laughlin had almost won; he’d almost had the company, a majority share and control over the direction of the business. Tycho had nearly lost everything, holding on only thanks to the man currently sat next to him, gazing out the window of the car as they rolled along, taking in the city and its giant mirrored buildings and bustling streets, seemingly completely oblivious to the true heroics of his act.

Unable to think of anything to say, Tycho slid his hand across to Virgil’s where it rested in his lap, the larger man turning to look as he felt the contact. He regarded the inventors hand on his for a moment before he looked up at him with a fond smile and threaded their fingers together, giving him a gentle squeeze. Tycho smiled back, feeling a pulse of arousal run through him as the feeling of Virgil’s mouth on his cock replayed in his mind.

“You okay, boss? You’re unusually quiet,” Teddy asked from the front, breaking their bubble.

“Fine thanks, Teddy. Just eager to get home,” Tycho replied, not breaking his eye contact with his lover, who grinned a little wickedly at the underlying promise of what was to come in his words.

“I bet you are,” Teddy chuckled, indicating right and pulling into a side street to take their usual short cut home, “it won’t be long, promise. And how you doing, V?”

Virgil’s head snapped forward at the question.

“Huh, me?” he clarified. Teddy nodded the affirmative, grinning in the rear view mirror. “Uh, good, thanks,” Virgil answered, always polite, “just tired. Jetlag is not a friend.”

Tycho looked at him sympathetically.

“How long have you been up for now?”

Virgil thought for a moment, trying to work out time differences and finding himself a bit too tired to make the calculations in his head. He shook his head and shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know,” he sighed, “but I’ll be fine. Really, we do this all the time,” he reassured Tycho even as the inventor frowned at the response.

“And when’s the last time you ate?”

“Breakfast, I think?” Virgil offered, blushing a little.

“And that was…” Tycho prompted.

“Porridge?” the pilot tried, a little confused. Tycho frowned and shook his head.

“When, Virgil?” Tycho smiled, fondly but with an edge of disapproval.

“Oh,” the pilot blushed, a little embarrassed. He’d honestly misunderstood the question; maybe he was more tired than he wanted to admit. “Hang on, got to work this out…”

He counted the hours back, taking his time as he finally got the time difference sorted in his head.

“Only…” he counted on his fingers, “eleven hours, I think.”

Tycho’s mouth dropped open, his gaze flicking to the rear view mirror to see Teddy raise an eyebrow.

“Only eleven… right, we are ordering food, right now,” he said sternly, turning back to frown at Virgil. “How can you go that long without food? You must be starving!”

“My record is like two and half days,” the pilot shrugged with an awkward grin, “really, I’m used to it, it’s not that big a deal.”

“It _is_ a big deal,” Tycho chastised him, “it’s not good for you.” He pulled out his comm, bringing up an order app and scrolling through various restaurants. “I haven’t got much a home from being away for so long, so I’ll have something delivered. What do you fancy?”

“I don’t think you’ll find it on that menu,” Virgil winked at him, barely supressing a smirk when he heard Teddy give a snort of laughter from the front seat.

Tycho rolled his eyes and frowned.

“Seriously,” he sighed, “just tell me what you want.”

“You don’t have to, I can…”

“No,” Tycho shook his head, “decide, or I’ll decide for you.”

“Will you now?” Virgil grinned, cocking an eyebrow. The inventor continued frowning at him. “Fine, fine,” the pilot sighed, “pizza?”

“Pizza, got it,” Tycho nodded, selecting one of his favourite takeaway places and beginning to add items to the order. “What do you want on it?”

“Um… chicken, bacon and onions? I’m a pretty plain kind of guy,” Virgil shrugged.

“Okay,” Tycho nodded to himself as he continued pressing buttons on his comm. “You want a drink?”

“You know you really don’t have to…”

“What drink do you want?” he interrupted the pilot, looking expectantly at him.

“Coke, I guess?”

“See, that wasn’t that hard, was it?” Tycho smiled, finishing up the order and entering his details. “Right, all ordered. It should be there just after we get in.”

“You shouldn’t have, I could…”

“Don’t try and argue with him, V. Once he’s started on his mother hen routine, ain’t no stopping him,” Teddy smiled from the front seat.

“Oh do shut up,” Tycho grinned back at him, “it’s not my fault I’ve chosen to love someone who likes to starve themselves.”

“I’m not starving myself,” Virgil protested with a frown, “I’ve just been… busy.”

“Well you’re not now, are you?” Tycho countered.

Virgil sighed, knowing he was defeated.

“Fine, you win,” he acquiesced, “at least let me transfer you some…”

“No!” Tycho almost shouted, drawing a shocked looked from both of the other men in the car, “I’m sorry, it’s just…” he reached for Virgil’s hand again, “I… after what you did today, you will never, _ever_ have to pay for anything for me, ever again, do you understand me?”

Virgil blushed, squeezing Tycho’s hand.

“I’d do it again, you know. I never want anything bad to happen to you. If it meant I had to give up everything, to spend every damn cent I have, I’d do it.”

Tycho’s eyes grew watery as he regarded his lover, the inventor giving a soft sigh as he thought of something, anything to say that could express what he was feeling in that moment.

“Besides, that Laughlin was a fucking _dick_. Screwing up his plans was the best part of it all. I seriously thought he was going to punch someone in that room.”

From the driver’s seat, Teddy gave a bark of laughter.

“I think you’ve found a keeper there, boss,” he grinned.

“Thank you for your input, Teddy,” Tycho frowned lightly, though the smile never left his lips. Virgil’s eyes flickered across his face, focusing on his mouth a little too much.

“I want to kiss you,” he whispered, barely audible. The words sent a shiver through Tycho’s body, heat stirring in his crotch. They really couldn’t get home soon enough.

As if on cue, the car came to a gentle stop as they pulled into Tycho’s reserved parking spot at the front of the building and Teddy turned to face them.

“We’re home, boss,” he smiled, looking between the two of them. “Well aren’t you two just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?” he mused with a soft chuckle. Both Virgil and Tycho gave a soft laugh, flushing.

“Can you get the bags out, Teddy?” Tycho asked, not taking his gaze off of Virgil. “We’ll be out in a moment.”

“Sure thing,” Teddy smiled knowingly. “I’ll be by the door.”

The second his bodyguard was out of the car and the door slammed behind him, Tycho’s lips were on Virgil’s. He clicked off his seatbelt, shuffling closer and wrapping a hand around his neck, holding him in place as his tongue flicked against the pilot’s lips.

Virgil groaned softly, his own hands moving to Tycho’s hair, threading through the strands and pulling a little.

“We need to go upstairs before I take you, right here and now,” Tycho whimpered, feeling desire pumping through him.

“I’m sure Teddy would cover for us,” Virgil grinned back even as Tycho pulled away from him.

“No,” the inventor replied, a little sternly, “not like this. The next time I have you, I want it to be in my bed, comfortable, slow and perfect.”

“It’s always perfect when you’re involved,” Virgil replied without missing a beat.

Tycho almost melted, wishing he could show the other man exactly how much he and his words meant to him.

“We… we should go… upstairs,” he croaked, eyes blown wide with the promise of what was to come.

“Sounds like a plan,” Virgil murmured.

“Hey,” Tycho caught his hand as the pilot went to unbuckle his seat belt. Virgil regarded him with a fond look, “I… I’m sorry if I’m being a bit… overbearing. I just… I don’t want you to think what happened at the office… I don’t want you to think that I’m using you, for your money. I’ve been in that position, and I… I didn’t know… I’m so grateful but I… If you want me to pay you back, I will. I never want you to think…”

Virgil cut him off as he surged forward, slamming their lips back together and drawing a whimpering moan from the other man.

“It was my choice,” the pilot whispered against his lips as he pulled back, resting their foreheads together, “you couldn’t have known I’d be there, but I’m _damn_ glad I was. I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you. It was all me, but I mean it. I would do it again and again if I had to.”

Tycho let out a shuddering sigh, closing his eyes and wishing they were already upstairs and in his bed, that he could show Virgil exactly how grateful he was.

“I love you,” he whispered, “I really do. And I don’t know if there’s enough time in the world for me to show you exactly how grateful I am, but I am going to try.”

“Love you too,” Virgil smiled, pecking Tycho’s lips. “Now, you can start by getting me my crutch so we can head up. All that talk of food has made me hungry and now I’m really looking forward to it.”

“That I can do,” Tycho grinned, moving back with a soft smile and opening his door.

*-*-*-*

To Teddy’s credit, he only made a couple of bad jokes when the two of them finally made it inside the lobby of Tycho’s building.

As they summoned the elevator and piled in, Teddy still hauling Virgil’s bags (completely ignoring the pilot’s protests that _he_ could do it, honestly), he glanced between the two other men as they exchanged looks, Tycho still quite obviously processing everything that had happened and the fact that his lover was actually here with him, stealing glances and looking at him with total adoration.

Teddy had known Tycho long enough to know he was completely smitten, the smile something almost foreign now; he hadn’t seen him like this in so long, and seeing Virgil return the look was warming his heart to its very core.

“So, you two got any plans for the evening?” he asked, drawing their attention. Tycho grinned at him.

“Not sure you’d want to hear about them, Ted.”

“Oh, come on, boss, I’m an adult,” he winked back, “besides, I was asking more about whether you’ll be binging vids? Hear they’ve just uploaded another season of Robot Battles.”

“Robot Battles?” Virgil asked, genuinely curious as Tycho’s eyes lit up a little.

“You haven’t seen it?” the smaller man asked, “oh, it’s brilliant! People build these robots and they fight with them! They all have different weapons, like spinning discs and flippers and crushing claws, they’re so cool!”

“Ty used to compete, until they banned him for winning all the time,” Teddy interjected, Tycho blushing a little.

“Yeah, but I mean I did go a little bit over the top… I may have, uh, destroyed half of their arena with an errant spinning bar that detached in one bout... I paid for all the damages, though! And financed another season of the show!”

“And they’re all the lesser without you there, boss,” Teddy winked.

“You destroyed an arena?” Virgil chuckled, very interested in this show.

“Well, sort of,” Tycho admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, a gesture Virgil hadn’t seen him do before; he knew it was a tick of his own, and wondered if Tycho had adopted the mannerism from him. The thought made his stomach flip a little. “Apparently, 16 kilojoules of force might have been a _tad_ too much for the chassis of my original bot. The damn thing flew off and went through three layers of bullet proof glass before imbedding itself in the fourth. Got a serious telling off and flung out of the contest, but I’d already won three times by then, so I guess it was only fair I retired her.”

“Her?”

“Chaochail, my little spinner bot,” Tycho sighed fondly, “she was a mean little thing. Destroyed everything in her path.”

“That’s a… unique name,” Virgil smiled.

“It’s Scottish gaelic for death,” Tycho chuckled in an almost evil manner, looking up as the elevator dinged, indicating their arrival at his floor, “nobody really got it, but I thought it was fitting.”

“It was, it really was,” Teddy said wistfully, “she was amazing! Won me so much money, too. She was a shoe in, and people _hated_ it.”

“Towards the end, yes. And what do you mean ‘so much money’, Ted? You told me you never gambled on my matches?”

“Uh, yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Teddy grinned, “It was only a flutter here and there. It’s not like I bet more than £5,000 on you… more than once… and paid for my nan’s round the world trip or anything… just little bits.”

“You’re a bloody menace,” Tycho chuckled fondly, gesturing for Virgil to follow him out of the elevator.

They made the short journey down the hallways, Teddy tracking behind with Virgil’s bags, watching the pilot move carefully. Before he’d left, Scott had called him over, giving him strict instructions that, (as Tycho seemed to trust him, and Virgil trusted Tycho, so it was all roundabout and he could be trusted himself), if Virgil looked to be in pain, struggling, upset or indeed (it seemed) showing any emotion whatsoever, Teddy was to message Scott and let him know.

Teddy had ‘accidently’ misplaced Scott’s number, however, though he did intend to keep an eye on the pilot’s wellbeing, just for his own reasons, the main one being Tycho.

He cared for his boss, not only professionally but on a personal level. When they’d first met, the night he’d saved him from the assault in that alleyway behind the bar, Teddy had been in a dark place; hooked on various drugs and desperate to get away from a criminal past which seemed to haunt him at every turn. Constant fights, dealing with drunks and shitty pay leaving him destitute had worn him down and he’d been ready to end it all.

But even then, he’d thought nothing of breaking up another altercation, going into autopilot and keeping the inventor safe. He could never have predicted the change in fortune it would bring him.

Tycho had taken him on as a personal bodyguard, paid for his rehabilitation, gotten him a roomy, comfortable apartment and completely turned his life around. He’d given him stability, security and the chance to make something of himself, and Teddy didn’t know if he’d ever be able to pay him back.

Now watching Virgil, a relative stranger, come into their lives and do the same for Tycho, bringing back the happy-go-lucky man that they’d almost lost throughout the attempts by malicious parties to infiltrate his life, he felt a surge of affection for the pilot, and it made him want to keep him safe to. Teddy’s natural instinct was to protect, but this was different. This was family.

He must have drifted off into his own mind as Tycho’s voice calling his name bought him back to earth.

“Teddy, you okay?” he asked, sounding concerned.

The bodyguard looked around, finding himself paused in the hallway, bags still in hand.

“Yeah, fine Boss. Just got a little lost in thought.”

“That’s dangerous,” Tycho grinned at him as he waved his key fob at his apartment door and it opened. “Come on, pizza will be here soon.”

He ushered them both inside, Virgil hobbling through with an awed grin on his face as he look around the apartment, taking in the fireplace, the décor and the birch wall before his gaze fell on the window looking out over the London skyline; the same one Tycho had shown him when they’d shared their call.

Behind him, Teddy shuffled in, dropping the bags by Tycho’s bedroom door and turning back to the inventor as he closed the door behind them.

“You need anything else, boss?” he asked with a fond smile. Tycho tilted his head to the side, a little confused.

“You’re not staying for pizza?”

Teddy shrugged, feeling a little awkward.

“Didn’t want to steal any of yous guys. Besides, thought you’d want some time to, you know, catch up?”

“Please, don’t leave on my account,” Virgil said from in front of him, turning to face the two of them.

“Naw, it’s all good,” Teddy reassured him, “besides, I eat enough for like three people, you wouldn’t be able to fight me off.”

“And that’s exactly why I got you a meat feast door buster, all to yourself,” Tycho grinned, gesturing for them to head into the living room.

“Seriously?” Teddy asked, confused, “but I thought…”

“That I’d order pizza in front of you and not get you any? Come on, Ted, I’m not that cruel,” the inventor chuckled. “Besides, we’ve got the world of Robot Battles to introduce Virgil to, and seeing as you’re the expert, I think you should get to choose where we start.”

Teddy beamed at his boss, feeling another rush of affection for him.

“Boss, did I ever mention that you’re the best?”

“Far too often,” Tycho smirked. “Oh, and I got you a box of cookies too. I know you love them.”

Teddy shook his head, turning to Virgil with a huge grin on his face.

“You know you’re gonna have to fight me for him, right?”

Virgil laughed, nodding sadly before he turned to Tycho.

“I’m sorry, babe, it’s been a great ride, but I don’t think I’m going to win this one.”

Tycho flushed and shook his head as the doorbell rang behind him.

“Oh do shut up, you two,” he laughed as he headed back to the door.

A few minutes of piling boxes from the two delivery drivers who looked amazed at their customers onto the dining table and the drivers nearly having a heart attack when Tycho tipped them £50 a piece, they were finally ready to tuck into the takeaway, piling their plates high with pizza slices, chips, sides and cookies.

Once food was sorted, they settled onto the huge sofa, Tycho and Virgil cuddled up at one end while Teddy lounged in the middle with the remote, bringing up the latest season of Robot Battles and explaining the premise to Virgil.

It seemed like a pretty simple show; homemade robots were entered by various teams and went through a first heat with three robots. The winner of each would then go into the semi-final and the second place robots would fight to remain in the competition while the losers were sent home. This would go on until only two robots were left, then the winner of that bout would go into the grand finale at the end of the season.

Fifteen minutes into episode one and Virgil was already hooked, developing favourites and cheering along with Teddy and Tycho as they bayed for mechanical blood.

Virgil couldn’t help but grin, enthralled, as Tycho went into detail about each robot’s mechanisms and how much of a chance it stood against the others, so passionate and excited that it was infectious, all while Teddy always supported the smallest robot or the ones made by teams of kids, calling them ‘adorable’ and cheering loudly when they got a good hit in.

At one point, one of the robots caught fire after a particularly bad hit, and they all went mad, screeching with excitement.

“This is amazing!” Virgil cried, whooping.

“I told you, man, it’s the best!” Teddy grinned at him as he stuffed another cookie into his mouth.

“The engineering is fantastic, but the _destruction_ is better!” Tycho added, smiling up at Virgil as he laid against the larger man who had his arms wrapped around him, holding him close.

“Thank you both for introducing me to this, I can’t _wait_ to show Gordon, he’ll love it,” he smiled down at his lover.

“Gordon?” Teddy asked, “So that was Scott at the office, I guess that’s another brother?”

“Yeah,” Virgil nodded with a grin, “there’s five of us.”

“Five? That’s mental!” Teddy leaned forward, “so each of you have a ship?”

A cold shiver ran through Virgil, a familiar fear clawing at his throat. Tycho sensed the change and placed a reassuring kiss on his lover’s cheek.

“Come on, Ted, he doesn’t want to talk about work right now,” he countered.

“Sorry, boss,” he replied, noting the change in the pilot’s demeanour as well, “and sorry, V. Didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s… ok,” Virgil breathed, head feeling a little fuzzy, even as the panic began to subside.

“It’s not,” Teddy murmured, “I shouldn’t… look, I know people are always after your shit, and I’m not going to stand here and go ‘I’m not like that’, because you don’t know me from jack, but…”

“Teddy,” Tycho warned him with a frowned, but the larger man continued.

“It’s just this is, it’s all so cool! Your ships and, just _you_ , you’re all awesome. And I’m sorry.”

“It’s all good,” Virgil reassured him, even as his voice was shaking, “and you’re right, just…shitty people have done some… pretty awful things. But I appreciate your honesty, Teddy.”

The bodyguard gave him a somewhat awkward smile.

“Just want you to know, V, as long as you’re here, ain’t no one gonna get to you. Ain’t no one gonna hurt you.”

Virgil looked over to Teddy, the uneasy feeling fading a little more as he took in the huge man’s genuine smile. He felt at ease around him, even more so as Tycho snuggled into him a little more. Teddy’s eyes drifted down to his boss, curled up against the pilot.

“I should leave you guys to catch up,” he grinned, “but I’m taking the rest of my pizza. Shit’s good.”

“You’re leaving?” Tycho asked, sitting up.

“Yeah, I should get back to the office and make sure Scott hasn’t driven Saz up the wall. Besides, I… I have a date tonight. Need to get ready and that.”

“A date?” Tycho raised an eyebrow, “why is this the first I’m hearing of this, Terrance?”

Teddy grinned, blushing a little as he moved to stand up.

“Because it’s, uh, kind of new. Met her on a dating app, going to see how it goes.”

“Well, good luck,” Tycho smiled at him, “I hope she’s everything you’re looking for.”

“Me too,” Teddy sighed, “it’s been a… long time. Forty four ain’t exactly the easiest age to find love at.”

“She’s going to love you,” Virgil reassured him, “anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“Aw, thanks, V! You’re gonna make me cry,” the bodyguard chuckled, gathering up the remains of his pizza in a box and throwing in a couple more cookies. “But seriously, thank you guys for this. It’s been awesome just chilling.”

“Same to you, Ted,” Tycho smiled back at him. “You have a good evening, yeah?”

“You too,” the larger man smiled, heading towards the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

And with that, he was gone out the door, leaving Virgil and Tycho sat together on the sofa.

The inventor turned, looking at Virgil with adoring eyes.

“Finally got you all to myself,” he sighed, leaning back into Virgil and putting his head on his solid chest.

The pilot’s hands were immediately back on him, one on his stomach and the other on his chest, thumb rubbing soft circles against him as they just rested.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Tycho murmured, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Virgil smiled, dropping a kiss on his lover’s head. “And thank you for pizza.” He paused, letting out a happy smile as he looked down on his lover. “So, Teddy’s a real character,” he continued, a little unsure of what to say.

“He is,” Tycho smiled fondly, “I trust him with my life. He might mouth off a bit and can be a bit uncouth but he’s like family. Couldn’t ask for a better bodyguard, either.”

“He’s like a mountain!” Virgil chuckled as the finale of Robot Battles came to an end, the credits rolling. Tycho nodded in agreement, drawing in a deep breath before he moved away from Virgil a little, turning to face him.

The two of them just looked at each other for a moment, a smile slipping onto both of their lips.

“Can I kiss you?” Tycho asked softly as he slid one of his hands onto Virgil’s chest, moving steadily up to his neck.

“You don’t have to ask.”

Virgil had barely gotten the last word out before Tycho’s lips were on his, the smaller man pressing their bodies together as best he could.

Getting the message, Virgil shifted himself a little, moving so his body was laid on the huge sofa, allowing Tycho to straddle him. The pilot’s hands were soon on his lover’s body, running down his sides until he found the bottom of his shirt and slipped underneath.

Tycho moaned into the kiss at the contact, shifting to allow Virgil more access. After a moment, deft hands moved to Tycho’s buttons and began pulling them apart. Soon, his chest was exposed and the material was pushed off of his shoulders, leaving him naked from the waist up.

Virgil’s hands were immediately back on him, tracing the shape of his body, running up and down his sides and over the plane of his back. He experimentally raked his nails gently up Tycho’s back and shoulders, eliciting a hiss from the smaller man.

“F-fuck, do that again,” he instructed. Virgil complied, holding back a groan as he felt Tycho’s hardening cock dig into his thigh when the smaller man writhed above him.

Tycho did not hold back, throwing his head back and moaning. Virgil took the opportunity to sit up, dragging Tycho onto his lap and moving his lips to his neck.

“V-Virgil, fuck,” the inventor panted, nails digging into the pilot’s arms as he held him in place, “I need you, p-please.”

“Shh, we’ve got all the time in the world,” Virgil reassured him, kisses dipping to his collar bone where he sucked a dark red mark into the skin. Tycho moaned and writhed under the action.

“Please, bedroom,” he urged him, trying to escape his grasp. Virgil tightened his grip, grinding his hips up against the smaller man’s.

“So eager,” he teased, holding back a laugh when Tycho frowned at him. “Fine, let’s go, love,” Virgil grinned, releasing his grip.

Tycho stood, offering his hand to his lover to help him up. Virgil took it and allowed himself to be led (slowly and careful of his bad knee) to Tycho’s bedroom, his bags still piled up by the door to the room. He gave them no mind as Tycho pulled him inside, closed the door behind them and pushed the larger man against it.

Virgil was taken by surprise as Tycho’s lips met his once more, his smaller body pressed against him, effectively holding him in place. Virgil wished, so badly, that he could grab the smaller man, switch their positions and fuck him against the door. But he knew his knee would likely not allow it, so he settled for moving him backwards, towards the ornate bed.

Tycho allowed himself to be pushed, eyes wide as he fell onto the plush mattress. Virgil gave a seductive smirk as he began undressing himself, first his shirt, exposing his chiselled chest (and still loving Tycho’s swoon when he did so), then his trousers, gingerly lifting his bad knee out of them and readjusting his brace a little. Tycho’s breath hitched as he looked to Virgil’s now naked form.

“You seriously came to see me without underwear on?” he asked, a grin on his lips. Virgil nodded, cocking an eyebrow.

“Never know when you’ll get the chance to have five minutes alone,” he winked.

Tycho shook his head.

“Come here,” he beckoned him as he kicked his own trousers and boxers off. Virgil complied, testing his knee when he put his weight on it as he crawled onto the bed, moving on top of his lover.

The brace was holding his knee enough, and the position was surprisingly comfortable.

Tycho gasped softly as Virgil’s hands went to his wrists, pulling his hands above his head and pinning them there. Virgil smiled at the noise, grinding his hips against the inventors, both men letting out a groan of pleasure as their cocks slid against each other.

“I want you, so badly,” Tycho gasped as Virgil’s lips moved to his ear, nipping the lobe and flicking his tongue against the shell.

“You’ve got me,” Virgil smiled, his kisses moving to Tycho’s neck. The inventor arched into the touch, desperate for more contact.

“Don’t be cruel,” Tycho laughed breathlessly, flexing his arms under Virgil’s grip, trying to get loose.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Virgil grinned, tightening his hold on Tycho’s arms as he thrust against his lover, drawing a long moan from him.

“P-please, I, I need you inside me,” Tycho begged, sending a shiver of arousal through the larger man. He bucked his hips against his lovers, desire fuelled even more by his words.

“Fuck, I wanted to take my time, but I need you so badly.”

“Please, just need you,” Tycho whimpered, “we can go slow another time, just need you.”

Virgil groaned, wanting to argue, but as Tycho’s legs wound around his hips, pulling their bodies together, he found himself unable to resist.

“Fuck,” he whispered, kissing Tycho with all the passion he could muster, trying desperately to convey just how much he wanted him. “Where’s your lube?”

“Top draw, far side of the bed,” Tycho whimpered, almost disappointed when Virgil released the grip on his wrists and moved carefully off of him, across the bed and over to reach the draw.

The pilot knew he’d pushed himself a little too far when the movement caused a surge of pain through his knee and he let out a hiss of pain.

“Are you okay?” Tycho asked, sitting up, immediately attentive.

“Fine,” Virgil lied through gritted teeth. Tycho frowned.

“Lay down on your back,” he instructed.

“No, I’m fine, I can…”

“We’re not pushing this today,” the inventor replied, moving swiftly off the bed and around to the side Virgil was closest to. He snatched the lube from the drawer, earning a frustrated groan from Virgil. “Now get on your back.”

“I can do this,” Virgil protested, “let me…”

He was cut off as Tycho placed a hand on his shoulder and urged him over, the larger man unable to fight as he rolled over and landed on his back.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” he whispered, though there was no real malice behind it.

“Promises, promises,” Tycho tutted as he crawled back on the bed, lube in hand. He contemplated the man in front of him for a moment, taking his time to drink in all of Virgil’s naked beauty.

He was truly a sight to behold; taut stomach and abs, muscular chest rising and falling, covered with a thin layer of dark hair over the sun kissed skin, getting thicker towards his crotch where his perfect cock rested, throbbing with anticipation between thick, muscular thighs.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Tycho whispered, not missing the flush that rose up Virgil’s body to his cheeks as the inventor moved between his legs, “I want to feel you again.”

Virgil groaned, reaching out to grab his lover and pulling him closer. Tycho offered no resistance as he was pulled flush against his lover’s muscular form, their lips colliding in a mash of tongues and moans.

“How do you want me?” Virgil whispered against his lips.

“I’ve got an idea, Tycho admitted, moving back and flicking the lid off of the lube. “If it gets too much, you just let me know, but I want to try, okay?”

“Whatever you want,” Virgil smiled, one hand moving to cup Tycho’s face. The inventor paused with lube in hand, hesitating for a moment before leaning forward to kiss his lover again.

“I can’t get enough of your kisses,” he murmured into the kiss, reluctantly breaking the contact again to pour a generous amount of lube onto his fingers.

He looked Virgil straight in the eye as he laid back, moving his fingers down between his legs and under his balls, making sure the larger man had a good view as he rubbed the slick liquid around his entrance and slipped a finger inside. The inventor threw his head back, moaning loudly as he adjusted to the intrusion.

“Fuck, Virgil,” he whimpered, closing his eyes and exposing his throat. Virgil shifted up into a sitting position, every fibre of his being wanting to surge forward, to take Tycho right there and then. But he waited and watched as patiently as he could, his cock twitching as the smaller man pumped his finger in and out of his body a few times before slipping another in and scissoring them a little, letting out another moan.

“Need your cock inside me,” Tycho whimpered, head still thrown back as he fucked himself with his own fingers, “can’t stop thinking about it, n-need you stretching me, pounding into me.”

The moan he let out as he slipped in a third finger and his words were too much for Virgil; he shifted himself forward where he sat, grabbing the now discarded lube and beginning to coat his twitching cock with a thick layer. Tycho looked at him once more, his eyes almost black with lust as he continued pumping his fingers in and out, stretching himself out.

“Come here, now,” Virgil growled, reaching forward for his lover. Tycho gently pulled his fingers from his body and complied, brain too overwhelmed with arousal to question the command.

He shifted forward a little, letting out a gasp when Virgil’s hands found his thighs, pulling him onto his lap where he sat.

“Wrap your legs around my back,” the pilot instructed, one hand moving to position his cock underneath Tycho’s body while the other supported him as he complied, his body sinking down against Virgil’s as he did so.

He moaned as he felt Virgil’s cock brush against his entrance, the pressure soon building as he let himself slip onto it. The head breached the tight ring a muscle and soon he was sinking further and further onto Virgil’s cock, being filled in a way only his lover could provide.

The inventor threw his head back again as Virgil’s hands moved to his back, pushing him down and pulling him closer at the same time, the pilot’s legs bending just enough to hold him in place as he fully sheathed himself inside.

“F-fuck,” Tycho whimpered, Virgil’s lips finding his neck and pressing a trail of kisses across the sensitive skin of his throat.

“That’s the plan,” Virgil chuckled against him, bucking his hips up, testing the strength of his knee.

Tycho almost screamed at the sensation, Virgil so deep inside him he was seeing stars. The position felt so intimate, the two of them pressed flush together, hands pulling each other close as Virgil’s cock pulsed inside him.

“You ready for more?” the pilot whispered, moving his lips up to Tycho’s ear. The smaller man pulled back, crashing their lips together in lieu of a reply and flicking his tongue against Virgil’s when he gasped into the kiss.

Virgil took it as an affirmative, hands lifting Tycho a little as he pushed his hips down and thrust back up into his lover.

He set a steady pace, driving into his lover who responded with moans and whimpers, relishing the sensation of being filled, stretched out again.

“Feels good,” he murmured against Virgil’s lips, the pilot still kissing him insistently as he fucked him, fingernails digging into his skin, leaving tiny crescent shaped dents that would no doubt turn into more marks on his body; more proof that Virgil had claimed him.

“Good,” Virgil grunted, picking up his pace a little, “you deserve, to feel, amazing.”

Tycho broke the kiss to throw his head back once more, overwhelmed by the sensations assaulting his body.

“V-Virgil,” he breathed, looking back at the pilot as he continued to thrust, gasping for breath as he watched Tycho’s face contort in pleasure, “ _please_ ,” he begged, shifting his hips back in rhythm with the larger man’s, “ _more_ ”.

“More?” Virgil confirmed breathlessly, thrusting harder than he had done before. He was rewarded with Tycho’s cries of pleasure and nails raking up his back, a sure sign he was giving his love what he wanted. He thrust up again, sharper and faster this time.

Tycho was losing himself in the pleasure, in the feeling of being so utterly fucked.

“V-Virgil, I, fuck,” he panted, struggling to get his words out. His hair stuck to his forehead where he was sweating from the exertion, more askew than normal.

“Just let go, enjoy it,” Virgil urged him, thrusting up even harder, grunting with the force.

Tycho all but screamed, clutching the pilot’s back and scrabbling for purchase against the smooth skin. He was whispering a chant of Virgil’s name in his ear, every thrust punctuated with it, and it was driving him insane, knowing that he was bringing this much pleasure to the man he loved, hearing him moaning and gasping for him.

It was nearly enough to push him over the edge. He gritted his teeth and pushed down his own pleasure, focussing entirely on making sure Tycho was enjoying the experience.

“I love you,” he whispered in Tycho’s ear as his hand slipped between their sweat soaked bodies, reaching for the inventor’s cock. He wrapped a deft hand around it, pumping in time with his thrusts.

Tycho was lost in a sea of pure bliss, eyes barely open but focused on Virgil as he continued to fuck him with a perfect mix of tender care and primal force, grunting softly every time he thrust back in. He shifted backward, trying to make more space for Virgil’s hand to jerk him off, the movement causing Virgil’s next thrust to hit his spot dead on.

A whimpering cry of pleasure hit the air as he saw white, his entire world spinning as heat flowed through his body from his chest down to his toes. Pleasure crashed over him like a tsunami, catching him unawares as his brain struggled to make sense of all of the sensations assaulting his body.

Virgil moaned, letting Tycho ride out his orgasm as the grip around him tightened and spasmed, causing an increase in the already overwhelming friction he felt. He let out a cry, thrusting once more and burying himself deep inside Tycho as he came hard enough to make his head spin.

A couple more hard, deep thrusts and he was entirely spent, collapsing back onto the bed with Tycho following suit, both hissing as the movement caused Virgil’s softening cock to slip a little too fast from his body.

“Shit, sorry, sorry,” Virgil panted, hands immediately going to Tycho’s sweat soaked hair, threading through the strands and pulling him against his chest.

Both men heaved for breathed, Tycho’s hands coming to rest on Virgil’s chest, lips against his skin.

“I love you, love you,” Tycho murmured, head still spinning. The pilot shushed him, holding him close.

“It’s okay,” he reassured him, his brain starting to make sense of everything again, “everything’s okay. I love you, so, so much.”

“I’m sorry,” Tycho whimpered, his tone changing and bringing Virgil crashing back down to earth.

“Sorry for what, babe?” he asked, one of the hands on Tycho’s back moving up to his chin and tilting his head up. The smaller man let himself be moved but avoided eye contact. “Tycho?” Virgil tried, concerned now, “hey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No,” Tycho swallowed hard, “I… I’m sorry, for… for not… I should have held on, I should have slowed down, you wanted it to last, I’m…”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, babe. Shhh, just relax, you did great,” Virgil cooed, rubbing soothing circles into his lovers back with his free hand, “you were amazing.”

Tycho whimpered again, curling tighter into Virgil’s chest. The larger man frowned at the action, wishing he could kiss him, let him know that he was safe.

Knowing better than to push it, he just held Tycho in his arms, dropping soft kisses on his head and whispering soothing words until the inventor’s breathing returned to normal and he relaxed a little, shuffling up to press his body against Virgil’s.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, looking up at Virgil. The pilot let out a breath of relief as Tycho made eye contact with him again, “I think I got a bit overwhelmed by it all, I kind of… It bought back some memories I’d rather have…”

“Fuck, Tycho, I’m so sorry,” Virgil shook his head, feeling guilt creep up his spine, “if I’d known…”

“It’s not you,” Tycho cut him off, leaning forward to peck his lips, “please, don’t ever think this was your fault. It’s more, the last time I felt anything close to this, it was… I…” he paused, biting his bottom lip, “I don’t know if I should be talking about this right now. I don’t want to ruin, this,” he gestured vaguely to Virgil.

“Nothing you could ever do could ruin this,” Virgil assured him, closing the space between their lips and kissing him insistently, tongue flicking against his lover’s lips.

Tycho let out a groan, though it was different to the ones he’d made in the throes of passion.

“Whatever I did to deserve you,” he panted as they broke apart, “I’m so glad I did it.”

“Same here,” Virgil smiled softly, “now, if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you, but please, don’t feel like you have to.”

Tycho nodded, taking a deep breath and contemplating his options.

“You… you remember I mentions the last guy I was with? Mischa?”

Virgil nodded, a little apprehensively.

“He… was a bit of a control freak,” Tycho admitted. His tone was sad, hurt, and Virgil did not like it one bit. “Whenever we… did anything, he had to be in complete control. If I ever did anything that he didn’t want me to, he’d…” Tycho shuddered as memories of pain and humiliation ran through his mind, “he’d make me… do things. Apologise in all these, I guess they were fucked up ways, but at the time, I didn’t think anything of it, I was so…” he gave a shaky sigh, “I just wanted to please him, and he fed off of that. I’ve always been a pleaser, and I… I guess I’m still working some shit out, but, I just… for a second I was worried you were going to go off on me, like him, but, I know, I know you’re different, I just…”

Tears spilled from his eyes as the confession came out, Virgil feeling horrified but trying to keep his face as comforting as possible. He wrapped his arms around Tycho’s shaking body and pulled him close, pressing kisses all over every inch of skin he could reach.

“I’m sorry,” Tycho sobbed into his neck, shaking his head, “I shouldn’t have… I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I?”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Virgil reassured him, “and you haven’t ruined anything, okay? Just take your time and come back to me. That’s it, just breathe,” he murmured against Tycho’s ear, running his hands up and down his back and neck trying to soothe him.

The inventor took a couple of deep breaths, trying to find his rhythm again. Emotions were threatening to overwhelm him now, replacing the pleasure he’d felt only minutes ago. He felt like it was about to swallow him up when Virgil’s hand tilted his chin up again and soft lips pressed against his own.

It was like a torch in pitch blackness, the feeling of those lips on his; his mind quietened, and all he could focus on was the feeling of Virgil’s hands, his mouth, his tongue gently sweeping over his lips, the way his fingertips curled into the flesh on his arm as he pulled him closer, the solid mass of his muscles and the scent of their passion coming off of him.

He let out a whimpering moan as Virgil pulled away, opening his eyes and forcing himself to maintain eye contact as his lover spoke.

“I will _never_ be angry at you for not wanting to do something intimate with me,” Virgil spoke softly but with purpose, hands moving to cup Tycho’s face, “do you understand?” The smaller man nodded in reply. “Good,” Virgil gave a small smile. “You are safe with me. I want you to know that. If you ever want to stop, we’ll stop, no matter what we’re doing. Your safety and comfort comes first. And, I… I’m so sorry you went through that, but I will _never_ let anything like that happen to you again. I will never let anyone hurt you, use you or degrade you. You… you’re precious to me.”

Tycho swore his heart was nearly beating out of his chest as Virgil pulled him in for another gentle kiss, this one only lips on lips and the gentle pressure of his arms around him.

He felt safe, wanted, loved and secure, all things he hadn’t felt in some time, and found himself wishing he could explain how he felt to the pilot. Words failed him, but Virgil did not seem to mind, still holding him close and littering his lips and chin with soft kisses.

“We’re equals in this, and that’s the only way I ever want it to be, okay?” he whispered against Tycho’s lips. The inventor nodded, sighing as he snuggled up closer to him.

“I love you,” Tycho whispered, voice still shaking a bit.

“I love you too,” Virgil smiled, pulling him close. “Now we should get you cleaned up before you fall asleep like this,” he grinned, gesturing to the mess on both of their stomachs where Tycho had cum between their bodies.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Tycho admitted, going to shift himself away but finding Virgil’s hand on his neck stopping him.

“I’m sorry I kind of hijacked your idea,” he murmured, flushing a little, “I just couldn’t… I couldn’t keep my hands off of you.”

“Its fine,” Tycho smiled at him, wondering if it was possible to fall deeper in love with him, “it was… that was amazing. Besides, like you said, we’ve got plenty of time to try other things, right?”

“We do,” Virgil smirked, winking. Tycho rolled his eyes with a smile, trying to pretend like he wasn’t excited by the prospect.

“Menace,” he teased. “Now, let’s see about that bath.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bank holiday bonus upload! lol
> 
> Robot Battles is a blatant reference to Robot Wars, and I'm still *super* salty about it being cancelled recently :(
> 
> I'm loving Teddy as a character.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying this, I'm still loving writing it, celebrating 1500 hits and about to write Chapter 39 and still going strong!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone for the support, the next couple of chapters are a RIDE lol. Hope you're all prepared! xx


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saz has got Scott pegged.
> 
> (lol)
> 
> [Graphic depictions of heterosexual sexual activity, BDSM and sex toy usage]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I hope this doesn't ruffle too many feathers!

Scott could clearly recall the last time he’d gotten laid; Marion Van Arkel, after their little ‘expedition’ down her families mine. The tension between the two of them had reached fever pitch after their rescue, and she’d been more than eager to explore what other ‘services’ International Rescue had to offer.

It had been a fun fling, but Scott had found himself almost disappointed that, after her appointment with the GDF, he hadn’t heard from her again. But she was an independent woman who knew what she wanted, and if Scott wasn’t that, well, he’d respect it.

Maybe the long break between then and now was the reason that Saz, bent over her data pad, still working on the statement he was to make in a couple of days, stray strands of auburn hair falling out of her bun with more frequency as she tapped away at the revisions he’d suggested suddenly seemed like the most attractive woman he’d ever seen in his life.

Maybe it was because she was.

She looked up, feeling his gaze on her.

“What now?” she sighed, “if you’ve got more revisions, tell me now before I lose my mind.”

Her professional façade was dropping a little now, accent becoming a little thicker. It was a northern one, for sure, but Scott couldn’t quite place it.

“Nope, no more revisions, you just look a little stressed, that’s all,” Scott observed, tilting his head a little as he crossed his arms.

Saz sighed, shaking her head.

“Well I would _prefer_ to be at home in a bubble bath with a glass of chardonnay, Mr Tracy, but seeing as you’ve not even prepared…”

“I told you before, call me Scott,” he interrupted her, knowing he’d made a mistake when she glared at him. If looks could kill, Scott would have been six feet under.

He was a little confused; all of the mutual attraction he’d thought had been there earlier had been slipping away as Saz got more and more frustrated.

Maybe it _was_ the stress. Not everyone handled it as well as their unit did, what with having to deal with it every day, and while it was only paperwork, to her, it may have been as stressful as a high rise rescue in a thunderstorm was to him. It was all relative.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised immediately, measuring his tone carefully. “I shouldn’t have interrupted. Maybe you could use a break?”

“I could, but I won’t get one,” she sighed. “We need to…”

“ _We_ need to do nothing,” he insisted, “you’ve given us a great base, but seriously, we can add as much as we need in. There’s no point in you stressing yourself out about this more than…”

“No offense, Mr… Scott, but I wouldn’t trust you to write out a _birthday card_ , let alone a statement that could bring both this business and your organisation into disrepute.”

Scott opened his mouth to protest but immediately shut it. He wasn’t good with words, this he could admit, and he was sure that he’d been told something similar to what Saz had said, harsh as it was. Possibly by Penny…

“Okay, okay. Well how can I help?” Scott asked, trying to sound sincere.

“This isn’t a rescue, Scott. You can’t just swoop in and save the day here. This takes time and revisions and… oh goddamn it,” Saz dropped her head into her hands, sweeping her hair back and trying to regain some composure. “I was meant to actually be going home this weekend, to spend some time in my _own_ house rather than the office crash pad, and I’ve got a banging head ache, so excuse me if I’m a little… tense.”

“I’ve got some painkillers in my med kit if that helps?” Scott offered.

Saz regarded him for a moment, sighing before giving him a soft smile.

“I… no. Thank you for the offer, but I…” she looked at the clock, “I really just want to get this finished. It’s a four hour journey home and I…”

“Where is home?” Scott asked, wincing as he realised he’d interrupted her again. He really needed to watch himself. “Sorry,” he mumbled, flushing.

Saz shook her head and sighed.

“Hopehouse, Scotland,” she said softly. “Got a nice old country house, been in my family for generations. Haven’t been back in nearly… four weeks? Just been too much going on, what with the board meetings and general bullshit going on. Was really looking forward to this weekend.”

Scott thought for a moment, formulating a plan.

“What if I told you I could get you there in… oh, say… ten minutes give or take?”

Saz raised an eyebrow.

“Then I’d tell you that you’re insane and that there’s no craft in the world that can…” she paused, eyes widening. “Oh, no. You’re not… you’re not seriously suggesting I get _in_ that thing, are you?” she gestured up to the roof where Thunderbird 1 was still parked.

“I might be,” Scott smirked.

“No, no, no. Me and fast things don’t mix,” Saz shook her head, “after the whole Hypercar thing, that just sealed it. I’d rather take a car and deal with it. At least I know the risks.”

“You do know that flying is the safest form of transportation, right?” he waggled his eyebrows at her, earning him an eye roll in response. “Oh, and what’s that I hear?” he asked, dramatically cupping his hand to his hear and leaning as if listening to something, “that’s the sound of a bubble bath, chardonnay and me getting out of your hair forever from the comfort of your own home…”

Saz bit her lip as she looked down at the data pad.

Thunderbird 1 _had_ to be safe, right? I mean, they wouldn’t fly it all over the world and save people if it wasn’t… And Scott was one of their top pilots. She’d be in safe hands…

“Okay,” she relented with a sigh, trying to ignore Scott’s smirk, “I’ll come in your stupid plane. Just don’t expect me to like it.”

“Now why would I expect something like that from you?” he grinned. If she’d known him any longer than a day, she would have slapped him.

*-*-*-*

He wasn’t sure just how long they’d been in the house before Saz had slammed him against the wall of her hallway and kissed him, dropping her data pad to the floor and pressing herself against him and shrugging off her jacket, but he knew it was less than five minutes.

On the ride over, they’d talked about their lives, families and personal lives, a lot of prying questions from Saz’s side. Scott had done his usual flirting, but had never expected an outcome like this, even if she had all but admitted to being as pent up as him when they’d talked about relationships.

She’d ordered him upstairs, an authority in her voice which had sent a thrill though Scott’s entire body and stirred his cock’s interest as he’d complied, following her instructions as she directed him to her bedroom, a lavish, purple and gold decorated room with a massive queen sized bed in the middle.

“Strip,” she ordered him, her tone broaching no argument. Scott did as he was told, cock harder than he could remember it being as she circled him like a hawk, watching his every move as he peeled off his shirt, vest, trousers and boxers, removing his shoes and socks along with them until he was stark naked in the middle of the room.

Saz eyed him hungrily, her gaze sending a shiver through him.

Scott had never been one to be embarrassed about his looks; he was well endowed enough that he’d never been worried about what women thought of him, and he’d never left anyone unsatisfied, not to mention how much he worked out. He was in good shape, and he knew it.

But seeing the smirk on Saz’s face as she circled him, biting her lip and taking in every inch of bare skin made him feel vulnerable, and was almost horrified to find that the feeling send a thrill of arousal through him.

“You are a gorgeous one, aren’t you?” she purred, running a hand over his shoulders.

“I…”

Scott flinched as pain he felt her hand connect with his backside, his entire body tensing as the sensation caused another wave of unexpected pleasure to run through him.

“That was a rhetorical question, and you will only speak when I say you can. Understood?” she asked as she came to stand in front of him, beginning to unbutton her shirt. Scott swallowed hard and nodded.

“You can answer that,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Yes,” he croaked, his own voice sounding foreign.

“Yes what?” she asked, hitting his backside in the same spot again, a small yelp escaping his lips.

“Yes, ma’am?” he tried, physically shivering now. He’d never experienced anything like this, and it was exhilarating.

“Much better,” she praised him. “Have you ever been a sub before?” she asked, voice a little kinder.

“A what?” he asked, earning him a now familiar eye roll.

“I’ll take that as a no,” she sighed. “Right, ground rules. One, I’m in charge, I decide what happens in this room, what I do to you and what you get to do to me. Two, I will listen to you and check on you from time to time. If things get too much, you say ‘pudding’ and I will stop without hesitation.”

“Pudding?” Scott repeated, “that’s…”

“Something you’d never say in the middle of sex,” she clarified. “Three, you will address me as ma’am or mistress. Four, if there is anything you are not willing to try, I need you to tell me now, before I go and get the toys ready.”

“Toys?” Scott asked, eyes widening, “What toys?” Saz glared at him. “Sorry, ma’am. What toys, ma’am?”

“You’re learning,” she smirked as she shrugged off her shirt, leaving her in just her lacy red bra, the cups framing her ample breasts, “I’m impressed.”

She walked over to the side of the room where a cabinet on the wall resided, painted black with ornate handles and hinges. She popped in a code and the door opened, revealing an array of chains, cuffs, harnesses and dildos of various lengths and thicknesses all displayed rather tastefully, considering what they were. Scott’s mouth fell open as he regarded them, suddenly uncertain as Saz undid the zip on the side of her trousers, allowing them to fall to the floor and stepping out of them gracefully, leaving her in just her matching underwear and black heels.

“I…”

“I’ll go easy on you at first,” she purred, moving to the cabinet and picking out a slender black dildo. There was no real detail on it, just a smooth surface that was tapered, thin at the end and thicker at the base with the tiniest curve to it. “This is for beginners, so it would be perfect for you. This and…” she picked up what looked like a belt, “this, for me. This lovely little harness has a little something for me on it, too,” she held it up, showing off the tiny black device attached to the front of it. “Can’t have you having all the fun.”

Scott swallowed hard, his cock throbbing between his legs but his brain screaming at him to stop, to think about this before jumping into it.

“So… think you could handle this?” Saz asked with a wicked grin on her lips. “I’ll understand if you want to back out, of course.”

She was baiting him, and Scott swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. He’d never backed down from anything in his life and he wasn’t about to start now.

“No, ma’am,” he replied, voice shaking a little. “I’ve just… never done anything like… this, before.”

“I can tell,” she grinned, fitting the dildo onto the harness and placing it on the bed before sauntering over to him. “I’ll go easy on you, as it’s your first time. I won’t even tie you up.”

She stood in front of him, mildly impressed as he managed to keep his eyes from wandering down to her breasts, instead opting to maintain eye contact with her.

“You can look, you know,” she chuckled, placing her hands on his neck and moving them up to cup his face. Scott kept his hands firmly by his side, unsure if he should ask permission to touch her or not.

“That wouldn’t be very respectful, ma’am,” he answered.

Saz sighed, leaning forward to brush her lips against his.

“You were _born_ to be a sub,” she breathed with a grin, noting how still Scott still was. “I want you to kiss me,” she instructed him, “like this is your last night on earth. And once I’m satisfied, you’re going to lay on the bed and I’m going to ride your face until I cum.”

Scott took a shaky breath, nodding obediently.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good boy,” she praised him, her lips travelling to his cheek. “Once you’ve satisfied me, I’m going to put on this harness and I’m going to fuck you in your tight little ass until you cum for me, and I’m going to make you feel so good you’ll be thinking about me for months. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” Scott replied, his entire body shaking with anticipation. He’d never known this feeling, the loss of control to another person, and it was driving him wild. This was not something he ever would have considered but now, here in the moment, he was aching to try it. After all, what was the worst that could happen? If he didn’t like it, this would be a one-time thing.

But a small part of his brain kept asking him, _what if he did like it_?

He didn’t have a chance to mull it over before Saz was clearing her throat, bringing him back into the moment.

“Do I have to repeat myself, Scott?” she asked sternly, frowning at him.

“No, ma’am, sorry ma’am,” he murmured as he pressed his lips against hers, his hands finally coming to rest on her hips as he drew their bodies together.

Saz couldn’t help but slip a little, melting into the kiss as Scott’s tongue flicked against her lips; she had to admit, he was an amazing kisser.

She was even more taken aback when she felt the pressure of her bra straps loosen, the lingerie slipping from her shoulders, guided by his hands. She hadn’t even felt his hands move to her bra.

His hands drew her bra off of her arms and threw it to the ground, immediately going back to her shoulders and running his thumbs along them, all while his tongue never stopped wrestling with hers.

He never missed a beat, and Saz was becoming more and more impressed by the second. She’d though Scott attractive from the moment he’d walked through the board room door, all attitude and confidence. Even through his jibing and joking in Tycho’s office and his poor attempts at flirting, he’d been strangely endearing, throwing her off kilter and making her think of this, having him serve her.

But to experience it now, how talented his hands and tongue were, it added a level of arousal she hadn’t felt in some time.

“Enough,” she breathed, pulling back as Scott’s fingers brushed over her nipples, sending ripples of pleasure through her body. “Take my underwear off,” she instructed him, stopping his hands with her own. “With your teeth.”

Scott smirked at her, a look which sent a thrill through her as he fell to his knees immediately.

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, his mouth heading for her hip and nipping the soft skin there, just above her underwear. It sent a shockwave of pleasure through her, so much so that she almost didn’t grab him by the hair and pull him back, drawing a gasp from him.

“Do as you’re told and nothing else, or there will be consequences,” she warned him. Scott continued to smirk at her.

“What kind of consequences, ma’am?” he asked, genuinely curious but with an edge of defiance.

“Ever been left tied up for four hours with a cock ring on and a vibrator on top speed in your ass?” she snapped, tugging at his hair again.

She was surprised when Scott let out a moan, unsure if he was aroused by the hair pulling or the idea she presented.

“Now, are you going to behave?” she asked sternly. Scott nodded, already pulling against her grip, desperate to get back to his task.

She let him go, barely holding in a gasp when his teeth grazed her skin ever so slightly as he gripped her underwear, pulling it down her thigh.

Once he’d got it down as far as it would go, he shuffled on his knees to the other side, doing the same until the lacy material fell to the floor between her feet. She stepped out of her underwear, about to order Scott on the bed when his hands ran up her thighs to her crotch, settling either side and using his thumbs to draw the lips of her sex apart as he leaned forward, his tongue flicking against her clit with precision.

She should have stopped him; he was disobeying her direct orders. She should also have fought the moan that escaped her lips as his tongue lapped at her again, but she found herself unable to as her hand went to his hair, grabbing a handful and pushing him into her.

Scott gave a muffled moan, still focusing on his task as he flicked and lapped at her clit, pleasure running through her.

“Fuck,” she whimpered, barely audible as she tried to maintain her composure. He was _amazing_ , his tongue more talented than she ever could have imagined as he licked around her, stimulating every part of her most sensitive areas as he continued to lavish attention on her clit.

She was almost ashamed at the rise of pleasure in her, faster than she’d felt it before as she yanked his head back and he looked up at her, sky blue eyes now almost blown black with lust.

He licked his lips dramatically, making it clear he’d been enjoying himself.

“Onto the bed,” she growled breathlessly. Scott got up immediately and did as he was told, laying down on the bed with his head on the pillows as she sauntered across the room, kicking off her heels as she went. “Move down,” she instructed. Again, Scott complied immediately, letting himself go to this newfound sense of freedom that came with letting someone else take control of his actions.

He moved to the centre of the bed, heart beating in his ears as Saz got onto the bed and straddled his head, looking down on him with a devious smirk on her face.

“More of that,” she instructed. “You have such a talented tongue, now put it to good use. If it gets too much, squeeze my thigh and I’ll let you up, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Scott breathed, eyeing her pussy with an eager gaze.

Saz took a breath, unsure quite how this had progressed so quickly but not arguing with it as she pressed herself onto Scott’s face and his wicked tongue got to work.

He flicked and teased her clit, breathing steady through his nose as he closed his eyes, totally losing himself to the sensation of her pussy on his tongue.

Above him, Saz was nearing a crisis; after years of finding pleasure like this, she prided herself on her stamina, usually able to hold off her orgasm until she saw fit to let herself go. But Scott’s tongue… it was something else.

She closed her eyes as threw her head back, contemplating if she should let the pleasure build, let herself go just this once and let him have this tiny victory before she took him when she felt his hands sliding up her stomach to her breasts.

Eyes fluttering open, she looked down to see Scott’s eyes also wide, a grin on his face as his tongue continued its assault on her, steady and soft but oh so good, looking up as if _daring_ her to stop him.

Before she could react, his fingers were pulling at her nipples, thumbs rolling over the soft nubs and hands squeezing, adding another layer to her pleasure.

It was getting too much, too fast. She couldn’t let him do this to her, she wouldn’t…

Her thoughts were lost as Scott moaned against her, sending soft vibrations through her clit as his tongue flicked and fluttered against her still.

It caught her off guard, dampening her response and leaving her unable to fight her orgasm as it washed over her, wave after wave of pleasure emanating from her core, spreading up to her shoulders and down to her feet, causing her to thrust and writhe on top of Scott as she arched her back and let out a long moan of pleasure.

She fell back as if stunned, barely keeping her weight from falling on Scott. Her hands managed to find space either side of him as she caught her breath, sitting up and moving to stand.

Turning to look at Scott, she found him laid with his hands behind his head, a shit eating grin on his face.

“Satisfied, ma’am?” he asked, looking far too happy with himself.

“Hands and knees, now,” Saz ordered him, not even dignifying his question with a response. She was angry, not at him, but at herself. She was allowing herself to be manipulated by those damned blue eyes and that cocky demeanour; she should have stopped his hands, punished him for touching her without permission.

He’d made her cum faster than she could do herself, and it had jarred her.

She shook the thought from her head as she stood, stepping into the harness and pulling it up her thighs while Scott got on his hands and knees, his expression changing to one of concern.

“You can still back out if this is too much,” she offered as she opened the draw next to her bed and drew out a bottle of lube, flicking the lid open and beginning to pour it onto her fingers.

Scott shook his head, still determined.

“No, ma’am. I… I want to try,” he admitted, voice shaking.

“Such a brave boy,” she praised him as she coated the strap on with a generous coating of lube and moved back to kneel on the bed behind him.

She contemplated his ass for a moment, taking in just how perfectly round and tight it was; he was almost all muscle, a side effect of having such an active lifestyle, she supposed.

Thinking back to his earlier actions, she made a decision and bought her clean hand down on his ass, spanking him where she had done so earlier.

Scott gave a yelp which melted into a moan as she hit him again. The sound sent a thrill through her, so she did it again, the sound he made louder this time, tinged with desperation.

“You ever touch me again without my permission,” she hissed, hitting him once more, “and I’ll string you up and fuck you while you dangle from my ceiling, you understand?” She punctuated the last word with another strike to his backside, Scott now moaning and writhing under her actions.

“Y-yes, mistress, _fuck_ ,” he whimpered, pushing his ass back. He was desperate for friction now, giving himself completely over to her.

The thought of her fucking him was now front and centre in his mind, and he was unsure where this desire had come from. Now he was actually getting excited at the prospect of her dominating him like this, stretching him open with her cock and taking him.

“I’m gonna finger your asshole, get you nice and loose for me, then I’m going to slide my cock into you, you understand?” she whispered, pressing her body against his back, her rubber cock pressing against his ass.

Scott shivered, wanting nothing more than to be fucked now, wondering how long he’d been holding this in.

“Yes, m-ma’am,” he whimpered, unable to stop his body from pushing back against her, betraying his need.

Saz raised an eyebrow as she gave a short laugh.

“You’re _gagging_ for it, aren’t you, you fucking whore?” she asked, Scott moaning in response.

“Yes, mistress,” he whispered, pressing back harder.

“Look at you, such a dirty little bitch. Wanting your ass fucked by someone you just met _today_.”

Scott moaned again. She was right, this was crazy; he felt dirty and secret and like a whore but he just couldn’t bring himself to care as she pulled back, one hand moving to his ass and spreading his cheeks apart a little, exposing his puckered hole.

“I want you to _beg_ me to take you,” she purred, lubing up her fingers. “I want to hear you plead to have me inside you. Tell me how much you want it, Scotty.”

Scott groaned in frustration, wishing she’d just get on with it but knowing it would all be worth it in the end if he just played along.

“ _Please_ , mistress,” he whimpered, pressing his ass back but finding himself held in place by her surprisingly strong grip, “I need you stretching me out, I need you to stretch me, I need you to _fill me_ ,” he pleaded.

Saz took a shaky breath, ridiculously turned on by his begging.

“You sure you haven’t done this before, babe?” she asked breathlessly as she slipped her lubed fingers between his ass cheeks, the tip of her index finger teasing the tight ring of muscle round his entrance.

Scott moaned the sensation, his entire body tingling as the new sensation pulsed through him.

“F-fuck, Saz,” he whimpered as she slipped the tip of her finger inside him. She should have punished him, but as he lost himself in his moans, his body adjusting to the new intrusion, she let it slide, choosing to go soft for a moment as his breathing picked up, a sure sign he was beginning to panic a little.

“Relax, love,” she cooed, her voice low and soothing, “it’s okay. You need to relax and it will feel good, I promise.”

“Nng,” Scott whined in protest, taking a deep breath, “It feels, odd, like, really, full,” he panted trying to keep up with his body’s reactions.

“I know, love,” she continued softly, the hand previously spreading him out moving to his hair, threading through the strands and massaging his scalp softly. “Just try and relax. I’ll make this good for you, I promise.”

Scott gave another noise of discomfort but nodded, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to relax as much as he could.

“That’s it, atta boy,” Saz praised as she felt the iron grip his body had had around her finger relax just a little. “Keep breathing, that’s it, you’re doing so well.”

Scott lapped up the praise even through the discomfort, taking another deep breath in as he felt Saz’s finger slip inside him a little more. He focused all of his attention on not tensing up, telling himself it would feel better in a moment, he just had to get through the worst of it.

“That’s it, such a good boy,” Saz murmured as she reached the knuckle. “See, I’m all the way in already, and the cock I’ve got for you isn’t much thicker than this. You want to try two fingers, stretch you out a bit more?” she cooed softly, her free hand still tugging gently at Scott’s hair, keeping him grounded as she pulled her finger out a little and thrust it back in.

The sensation was odd, but now he was getting used to it, Scott found it not exactly unpleasant, the friction addictive. His body reacted for him, pressing back against Saz’s finger, trying to take her in deeper.

“There’s my good little whore,” she smiled, pulling her finger almost all the way out and adding her middle finger, slipping them both back into him with only minimal resistance.

“ _Fu-uck_ ,” Scott moaned at the double intrusion; it wasn’t as bad as the first but it still felt a little odd.

“You’re doing so well,” Saz murmured releasing her hold on Scott’s hair. He whimpered at the loss of contact, shifting back and trying to take her fingers deeper again. “Such a beautiful whore.”

Scott whimpered as she drew her fingers out, reaching for the lube and making sure the dildo attached to her harness was well lubed before she pressed herself against Scott again, one arm going around his middle while the other opened up his cheeks for her again, the head of the slender dildo pressing against his entrance as the clit stimulator on her end rubbed against her. The slight friction was torturous as she lined herself up, ready to enter him.

The pilot mewled and whimpered, trying desperately to stop his body from bucking back, from taking it inside him too fast.

“This is your last chance to back out,” Saz said softly, trying to keep her voice level, to not pressure him. “I won’t think any less of you, you’ve done amazing today.”

“N-no, mistress,” Scott all but whimpered, his entire body shaking with anticipation, “I-I want you to, to…” he hesitated, drawing a deep, steadying breath, “to fuck me, d-deep and slow. I want you to take me.”

That was the all the encouragement Saz needed.

With a wicked grin on her face, she angled her hips and slipped the head of the dildo inside him.

Scott arched and moaned at the sensation, trying to adjust as quickly as he could. Saz paused, giving him all the time he needed, even as he whimpered for more.

“Take your time, you’re doing so good,” she cooed, her hands moving to his hips and steadying his body.

Once his moans had subsided, Saz dared to move, the friction against her clit as she slid into him, meeting a little resistance delicious.

They moaned in unison, her nails digging into the soft flesh of his hips as she found herself fully sheathed inside him.

“How does that feel, love?” she asked softly, trying to maintain her composure even as he rocked back against the dildo, rubbing it across her clit.

“G-good, full,” he panted, “p-please, mistress, please fuck me.”

“Fuck, you’re a whore, aren’t you?” she sighed as she pulled back a tiny amount before thrusting back into him, using his hips to drag him onto her.

Scott moaned again, long and loud as she continued little thrusts, pulling out a tiny bit more each time and driving into him harder.

“F-fuck, Saz,” he panted, the name making her stop dead in her tracks where she was, the head of the dildo just barely inside him. “Fuck!” he cried, “what, what are…”

“What’s my name?” she asked, far too calm.

“F-fuck, I’m sorry, mistress,” he whimpered, “I’m sorry, please, _please_ , fuck me!” he begged, desperate for more friction. He pushed back against her again, only to be rewarded with her pulling out entirely and spanking his ass, _hard_.

Scott cried out, the pain and loss of friction driving him crazy.

“What do you call me?” she asked again, rubbing the dildo across Scott’s stretched entrance. He whined at the sensation, trying to push back onto it again, the action earning him another slap to his ass.

“Fuck! Mistress,” he mewled, “mistress, I’m sorry, please, _please_ , I need…”

“ _I need_ doesn’t get,” she said sternly, impressed at just how into this Scott was. “But I suppose you _are_ sorry…”

“Y-yes, Mistress, so, so sorry,” he breathed, shaking with need.

Saz sighed as she plunged back into him, making Scott yelp and arch against her, driving himself back again.

“That happens again,” she warned him, “and I’ll stop for good. You understand?”

Scott couldn’t even bring himself to nod, a sensation he’d never felt before running through his veins like wildfire; pure, hot pleasure emanating from the exact spot the dildo had just hit inside him.

He let out a strangled moan, unable to fight the wave of pleasure that ran over him as his orgasm hit out of no-where.

Saz sighed as she watched him writhe underneath him, a little disappointed but undoubtedly proud of her efforts as he collapsed onto the bed, heaving for breath and hissing as the dildo slipped out of him at an awkward angle.

“Fuck, I,” he swallowed, trying to breath, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry mistr…”

“Shh, scene’s over,” she assured him, standing to remove the harness. “Take it easy and breathe. I know it can be a little intense.”

“That’s one word for it,” Scott panted, shifting to move onto his back only to find his limbs were not responding. “I think you broke me,” he admitted with a short laugh, sighing into the sheets.

His words were greeted with silence.

Lifting his head, he propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the room.

“Saz?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m in here,” she called from a side room, the door slightly ajar. “Just getting things cleaned up. Wait there.”

Scott was too tired to argue, flopping back down onto the bed.

He was drifting into a wonderful post coital slumber when a wet feeling on his backside made him flinch, jarring him back to full consciousness.

“What are you…” he began, turning to see Saz with a wash cloth, swiping it across his backside.

“Taking care of you and cleaning you up,” she smiled softly.

“You don’t have to, I can…” Scott mumbled, a little embarrassed.

“No, you lay there and rest,” Saz instructed him. Scott sighed, not willing to argue as she gently cleaned him, noting when he winced at certain points. “You’re going to be feeling this for a few days, and you might be a little sore,” she admitted, nudging him to roll over as she threw the dirty wash cloth into a bowl by the bed and produced another one, running it over Scott’s crotch and stomach, cleaning up his seed once he was on his back.

“Totally worth it, though,” Scott winked, acting more confident than he felt. Saz saw right through it, but smiled a little fondly none the less.

“Was it?” she smiled. “I have to admit, for your first time, you did incredibly well.”

“I was a bit scared at first but… the way you kept me going, kept praising me and guiding me through… I’ve never even _thought_ about doing something like that, but… I kind of enjoyed it.”

“You’re a great sub, if that’s a comfort,” she smiled softly, “I’ve met people who have been doing it for years who aren’t as obedient and… receptive, as you. You’ve got potential.”

“Potential?” Scott asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Potential,” Saz repeated, winking at him. “If you’d be up for another round or two, of course. We could always keep building you up. I want to see just how far you could go.”

“That’s very presumptuous of you,” Scott grinned. “Who says I’d even _want_ to do that again?”

“Babe,” Saz sighed, resting a hand on his chest with an almost sympathetic look on his face, “you came from having your prostate _touched_. You’re gonna be thinking about this for _weeks_ and eventually, you’ll come crawling back, _begging_ to be fucked.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Scott asked, his usual defiance returning. “If I don’t think about this for weeks? If I don’t come back?”

Saz thought for a moment.

“Then I guess you just aren’t cut out to be a sub,” she grinned. “It’s okay though, not everyone is. It takes a _special_ kind of person to be able to serve and comply, and if that’s not you, then, that’s fine I guess.”

Scott frowned at her; she’d not even known him a full day and she could read him like a book.

“You’re cruel,” he complained.

“No, I’m smart,” she winked.

Scott was about to open his mouth to say something when there was a loud beeping from the pile of clothes by the end of the bed.

“Shit, that’s my comm,” he murmured, scrambling to the end of the bed with a hiss, noting the pain in his backside as he moved to grab his comm.

“Told you,” Saz grinned as he hissed.

“So you did,” Scott smirked back at her, noting the orange glow of the comm as he answered it on voice only. “Hey John, what’s up?”

“Scott, where are you?” his brothers voice came through the line, “why haven’t you got video on?”

“I’m busy, what’s the matter?”

John sighed in frustration.

“Two trapped climbers on Everest, GDF forces have been pushed back by bad weather and they’re running out of time. You’re the only one who can get there fast enough.”

“I’m on it,” Scott nodded, already scrambling to find his clothes. “I’ll contact you when I’m in the air, send all the details to 1’s onboard.”

“You got it,” John replied, the comm line dropping.

“I’m sorry, Saz,” Scott smiled awkwardly at her, “really hoping I wasn’t going to have to ‘dine and dash’,” he smirked as she hit him on the arm, “but… you’re right. I’d like to do this again, if you’ll have me?”

Saz grinned, a smug satisfaction washing over her at his admission.

“Of course,” she smiled, reaching for his comm and tapping in her direct line. “Any time, you’re more than welcome to… drop by. Either the office or here.”

“The office?” Scott raised an eyebrow.

“What, you think I don’t keep reserves at work?” she grinned. Scott’s mouth dropped open.

“Does Tycho know?” he asked with a chuckle.

“No, and he’s not going to,” she smiled back, “my work and personal life a separate and that’s the way I like it.”

“Noted,” Scott grinned as he pulled on his trousers and dialled her personal number, making sure she had his before he turned to leave, hesitating by the door. “I really am sorry,” he grinned sheepishly.

“It’s fine,” she smiled softly, still naked as she walked over to him with a wicked grin on her face. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?” she purred as she kissed his lips softly, drawing a soft moan from the pilot.

“Fuck, why do people _still_ insist on climbing Everest?” he asked before he grabbed her, kissing her with a level of passion she hadn’t felt in a long time, then running out the hallway shouting his goodbyes.

As the sound of VTOL engines in the field opposite rang through the air, she moved swiftly to the window and watched Thunderbird 1 take off, marvelling for the first time at how beautiful she really was; sleek, solid and precise. Somehow, Scott just fit his ship.

She sighed as she watched the rocket ascend into the sky, the mechanical whir of the ram jets activating sounding moments before it tore across the sky and vanished from sight.

A weight formed in Saz’s stomach as she thought about his destination. Shaking her head, she put the thought from her mind. He was a professional, he knew what he was doing.

Except when it came to script writing, she reminded herself, remembering the data pad downstairs and realising, with a sigh, that her bath would still have to wait.

At least now she was in the comfort of her own home with memories to keep her warm through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I *really* enjoyed writing this (and not for the reasons you think, get your heads out of the gutter lol)
> 
> I just really love the idea of Scott being in charge all the time, Saz having to do what others tell her to all the time and the complete switch of power. Also Scott is just a doof who has no idea what to do so I love it :P
> 
> Quite proud of this one!
> 
> Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think!


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tycho shows Virgil what he's been missing.
> 
> [Graphic depictions of sexual activity]

 

It had been a long time since Virgil had enjoyed a bath.

Getting clean when you worked for International Rescue and could (or more than likely _would_ ) be called away the second you got into a nice, steaming bath had become functional rather than leisurely, all of them usually opting for five minute showers, sometimes even stretching to ten if they were feeling _really_ daring.

So the sight of Tycho’s large bathroom that adjoined his bedroom, a black and white tiled wet room style layout with a huge, hot-tub like bath sunken into the floor in the middle of it was the most appealing thing he’d ever seen, outside of his lover laid bare before him.

Said lover now urged him into the room, shutting the door behind them and moving to help him peel off his leg brace, telling him to lean on his shoulders for support if he needed it.

Virgil complied, following Tycho’s instructions as the inventor got him to sit on the edge of the tub, ready to slide in, bracing himself on his arms. It was slow and careful as he slipped his body into the near scalding water, a hiss of pleasure escaping his lips as the water engulfed his body.

His leg rested comfortably on the bottom of the tub, the heat and pressure of the water soothing it, his body now submerged up to his shoulders. Virgil rested his head back against the tiled edge of the tub and closed his eyes, a sigh of contentment escaping his lips.

“You comfortable there?” Tycho grinned as he slipped into the tub beside him, eyes dancing with delight at watching his lover relax.

Virgil nodded, lifting his head and looking at the inventor with now familiar adoration. Tycho blushed a little under his gaze as Virgil’s hand reached towards him, cupping his cheek and urging him closer.

“This is perfect,” Virgil purred as Tycho moved to him, mindful of the pilot’s knee as he moved to straddle him, knees either side of Virgil’s hips. He allowed Virgil to pull him closer, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss.

They stayed like that for a short while, just a gentle meeting of lips on lips until Tycho’s tongue fluttered against Virgil’s lips and the kiss intensified.

A soft moan escaped Tycho’s lips as their tongues met, his body pulsing with need again already.

“I love you,” he whispered as he pulled back to look at Virgil, smiling as he rested his arms on the larger man’s shoulders.

Virgil’s hand moved back to cup Tycho’s face, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

“I love you too,” he breathed. “You are the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thank you for sharing all of this with me.”

“Fuck,” Tycho sighed, feeling a jolt of arousal run through him, “how can you turn me on with words when they’re not even sexual?”

“Just a talent, I guess,” Virgil chuckled, pulling the smaller man back in for another kiss.

His lips were more insistent this time, tongue flicking against Tycho’s lips as the inventor shuffled forward, settling on Virgil’s lap and gasping against his mouth as their cocks slid against each other.

“V-Virgil,” he whimpered, pressing their bodies together.

“Fuck, babe,” the pilot sighed, throwing his head back at the sensation as Tycho rolled his hips, the friction, even through the water enough to send his head spinning, “don’t, don’t want to push you.”

“I know,” Tycho sighed, pressing himself forward again. He grinned a little wickedly as Virgil moaned loudly, the sound echoing off of the walls of the room. “I just want you, in every way I can have you.”

“F-fuck,” Virgil breathed, arching into Tycho’s motions.

The inventor’s actions slowed a little, enough that Virgil lowered his gaze back to him, a little concerned when he saw the smaller man worrying his bottom lips with his teeth.

“Everything okay, babe?” he asked softly, hands moving to Tycho’s sides and running up and down his body, the action making his lover shudder with pleasure.

Tycho nodded, drawing a sharp breath.

He hesitated before speaking.

“I… I want to ask you something, but… I’m… I’ve never…”

“It’s okay,” Virgil reassured him, offering a soft smile and leaning forward to kiss his lips, barely suppressing a groan as Tycho continued to rock gently against him. “You can ask me anything.”

Tycho nodded, taking a shuddering breath as he rolled his hips into Virgil’s gently, the feeling sending pleasure snaking up his spine.

“I… Can I…” he took a deep breath, leaning forward and kissing Virgil’s neck as he wrapped his arms around his lover’s shoulders, too embarrassed to look at him as he asked, “Can I finger you?”

The question was barely a whisper, but Virgil heard it. He swallowed, hard; that hadn’t been what he’d expected.

Tycho noticed a slight stiffness to him and pulled back, eyes downcast as his movements stilled.

“I… I’m sorry, I just _want_ you and I’ve never, no one’s ever let me… I just thought, I wanted to…” he murmured, rambling a little as he tried to backtrack, wishing he hadn’t bought it up.

Virgil felt a wave of guilt wash over him; he should be used to Tycho having the ability to read him like a book by now.

“Hey, don’t, it’s… fine,” he forced a smile, hand going to Tycho’s chin and tilting his face up. The inventor’s eyes flickered to the side, avoiding his gaze. “Babe, look at me,” Virgil demanded, bringing their lips together when Tycho finally looked up at him.

They kissed for a moment, Virgil trying to calm himself down as his brain fought to formulate a response.

“It’s not you,” Virgil whispered as he pulled back, resting his forehead against Tycho’s. The smaller man nodded against him as he continued, “I’m… I’ve only ever had it done to me once, by the first guy I was… intimate with, and it was… it wasn’t good. It hurt and…” he hesitated, worried of Tycho’s reaction if he admitted the truth.

 _No_ , he reasoned, _Tycho isn’t like that_. _He’ll understand_.

“I’ve not had anyone… like that, since. I’ve never…” he drew a deep breath, exhaling slowly, trying not to flush bright red, “I’ve never been fucked,” he admitted, head dipping a little. He felt a little ashamed at the admission, though he didn’t understand why. “I guess I’m… scared? But remembering how much it hurt, how…” he paused, trying to regain his composure. “I trust you, I really do, and I want this, I want to have you, in every way, but…” he bit his lip, “I know it sounds really hypocritical of me, after what I do to you, but…”

“Virgil,” Tycho murmured, kissing him gently, cutting him off, “I’m so sorry, I had… if I’d known…”

“It’s okay,” the pilot breathed, placing a gentle kiss on Tycho’s forehead before he shifted him to pull him flush against his chest, one hand on his back and the other threading through his hair, the inventor snuggling into the crook of his neck. “If there was anyone I’d ever let… do that… it’s you. I… I want to try, I just… I’m scared I’m going to freak out, and it wouldn’t be fair on you if I didn’t tell you.”

“I’ll go slow,” Tycho promised, kissing every inch of skin he could reach as Virgil shivered underneath him, “I promise I’ll make you feel good. I want you, so badly. Want to feel you around me.”

Virgil moaned at the words, his cock stirring back to life.

He was scared; the first time this had happened, it had been in a drunken encounter at a graduation party, a hot guy from tech class with spit for lube and his pleas for slowness and gentleness had been ignored in lieu of a hard and fast prep before the guy tried to force himself onto him. But Tycho didn’t need to hear about that, or how Virgil had broken the guy’s nose and fled.

But this, right now wasn’t some drunk guy trying to violate him. This was Tycho, his love, the man who had given himself to him completely.

His thoughts were cut short as Tycho’s hand crept underneath his thigh, urging him upwards.

“Lay on the side of the tub,” Tycho instructed. “I’ll be right back. Just get comfortable.”

Virgil braced his arms on the side and carefully lifted himself out of the bath, following Tycho’s instructions and laying down, tucking one arm under his head as he shifted, finding a comfortable position. Goosebumps raced across his skin, both from the change in temperature and the fear he felt for what was about to happen.

 _‘It’s Tycho, he won’t hurt me’_ , he told himself, trying to keep his fear at a minimum.

Tycho reappeared with a bottle of lube in hand and a gentle smile on his face.

“Look at you,” he sighed, closing the door behind him and admiring the sight of Virgil spread out in front of him, “you are… fuck, you’re so gorgeous.” He moved swiftly across the room, placing the lube down next to the pilot and dropping to his knees, hands going to Virgil’s thighs and pressing them apart as he moved between them. He leant over the larger man, hands running up his stomach and chest, grazing his nipples as he moved to kiss him.

Virgil moaned at the feeling, free hand going to Tycho’s hip. The inventor felt his lover quivering, and tried to convey comfort as he kissed him tenderly, soft and slow.

“How did someone like me end up with someone as perfect as you?” Tycho sighed as he pulled back, leaning back up and reaching for the lube.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Virgil chuckled softly, eyes wide and betraying his fear.

“I’m nothing compared to you,” Tycho murmured, gaze downcast as he flicked the lid off of the tube in his hand.

“Don’t say that,” Virgil frowned, chest tightening at his words, “you’re… amazing, and so gorgeous. You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that.”

“Yeah, but you’re like… fuck it’s like you were chiselled from stone,” Tycho laughed softly, “you’re _perfect_ , look at you,” he sighed again, drinking in the sight of his lover beneath him.

Virgil smiled a little awkwardly, his hand still on Tycho’s hip tightening a little.

“I love you,” he whispered, voice shaking.

“I love you too,” Tycho smiled as he poured a generous amount of lube onto his fingers and slicked them up, not missing the apprehension on Virgil’s face. “I’m going to go slow, okay? Take this at your pace. If you need me to stop, I will. I’m going to make you feel so good.”

“I know,” Virgil breathed, taking a shuddering breath.

Tycho smiled sympathetically as he put the lube back down by his side, running his clean hand up the inside of Virgil’s thigh. The larger man shuddered, closing his eyes and trying to focus on his breathing.

“Just relax, babe,” Tycho cooed, “I want you to enjoy this.”

Virgil nodded, taking a breath and exhaling slowly, willing his body to relax.

“That’s it,” Tycho praised him, shuffling back a little and lowering himself down so his mouth was hovering over Virgil’s cock.

“W-what are you…” Virgil began, his words melting into a moan as Tycho’s tongue flicked the head of his cock which immediately began to stir with renewed interest.

“I told you,” Tycho whispered, eyes darkened with lust as he looked up at his lover, his fingers moving to Virgil’s entrance and running across the puckered hole, the larger man moaning and bucking at the sensation, “I’m gonna make this good for you.”

Virgil moaned, resting his head back on his arm as Tycho’s lips caressed the tip of his cock. He was half hard already, the inventor’s tongue lapping against the hardening flesh as the tip of his index finger circled Virgil’s hole.

The pilot moaned apprehensively, squirming a little at the sensation.

“It’s okay, babe,” Tycho reassured him before leaning forward to take the head of his cock into his mouth. Virgil moaned again, the dual sensations of Tycho’s mouth and his finger pressing insistently against his entrance driving him a little wild.

He gasped as Tycho’s finger breached his body, the tip sliding inside. Tycho moaned around his cock, the noise sending soft vibrations through Virgil.

“F-fuck,” he whimpered, face screwed up and eyes closed as Tycho gazed up at him, watching his reactions carefully as he pressed his finger in further, the heat of Virgil’s body amazing.

“How does that feel, babe?” Tycho asked softly as he pulled off of his cock, his finger sliding slowly in to the knuckle. Virgil’s face was still screwed up as he focused on relaxing. “Babe? Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” Virgil grunted, opening his eyes and drawing sharp breath.

“Hey,” Tycho called him, drawing his attention as his free hand moved to the base of his cock, pumping slowly, “look at me.”

Virgil whimpered as he complied, looking down to his lover with uncertain eyes.

“Just breathe, nice and slow. Steady breaths,” Tycho instructed. Virgil nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths as he adjusted to the intrusion. “That’s it, you’re doing amazing,” Tycho praised him, “you feel so fucking good.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil whimpered, closing his eyes again.

“Don’t be, just relax,” Tycho murmured, dropping his mouth back to Virgil’s cock, tongue flicking at the slit, a dribble of precum hitting his tongue. He hollowed his cheeks as he focused on the head of Virgil’s cock, sucking and teasing while his hand caressed the base, the finger inside his lover beginning to pump in and out of his body as a slow, gentle pace.

“ _Fuck_ , Tycho,” Virgil moaned, throwing his head back. The finger inside him felt good in an odd way, completely different to his previous experience. There was no pain, a little discomfort as his body adjusted, but the friction from the movement was more than making up for it, as was the talented mouth on his cock. “It’s… strange,” he admitted.

Tycho chuckled softly as he pulled off of Virgil’s cock.

“I know babe, you’ll get used to it,” he reassured him, pressing a kiss to the tip of his cock. “You ready for another?”

Virgil whimpered but nodded, his body tensing a little.

“Relax, sweetheart,” Tycho cooed, “you’re doing so well. If it hurts, tell me and I’ll stop.”

“I know,” Virgil murmured, taking another shuddering breath and forcing himself to relax.

“That’s it, you’re so good,” Tycho praised him as he slipped his finger almost all of the way back out and lined up his middle finger alongside it, pressing them both inside his lover.

Virgil moaned at the sensation as both fingers slid deeper, stretching him out. He arched at the sensation, his cock sliding easily into Tycho’s sweet mouth.

“Oh, _fuck_ , fuck!” he panted, his free hand going to Tycho’s hair, threading through and pulling. Tycho moaned, sending more vibrations through him. “Fucking, fucking hell Ty, fuck!” he gasped.

Tycho sucked hard, focusing on breathing through his nose as he pumped his fingers faster, scissoring them a little.

“M-more, please, more,” Virgil whimpered, his lips bucking a little.

Tycho pulled back a little, keeping himself from getting overwhelmed by Virgil’s actions, all of his focus on the larger man’s pleasure as he mewled and moaned beneath him, the sounds sending a thrill through him.

He picked up his pace, pumping his fingers faster and a little harder, pulling out almost all the way before adding another finger and sliding them back in.

Virgil moaned louder, arching again. He bent his legs up a little, tilting his ass up and giving Tycho better access as the inventor continued to suck his cock in the same rhythm as his fingers fucked him.

“Ty, Tycho, fuck, I, fuck!” Virgil cried, his mind declining to provide any rational thoughts as he let himself go to the sensation of his lover’s fingers and mouth, pleasure at the friction inside him and the clever tongue pressing against him as Tycho continued to suck him building.

Tycho picked up his pace, driving into Virgil harder and faster, bending his fingers slightly in a familiar motion. He knew he’d hit the right spot when Virgil cried out, writhing and bucking underneath him, his cock sliding into the back of Tycho’s mouth. Tycho pulled back a little, caught off guard but retaining his rhythm as Virgil panted, chanting his name and fisting the hand in his hair, causing the inventor to moan again, his concentration began to slip.

He crooked his fingers once more, Virgil letting out a near scream as he arched again, letting out a long, loud moan, a little broken and awkward, as if being sounded for the first time.

“F-f-fuck, Ty, Tycho, fuck, how?” he panted, words turning to moans as the inventor crooked his fingers again, pressing in as deep as he could and spreading his fingers a little.

Virgil whined, long, loud and low, whimpering now.

“Ty, Ty, gonna, gonna cum, fuck, gonna cum!” he cried, trying to pull Tycho off of him by his hair.

Tycho pulled against his grip, taking him as far into his mouth as he could as he crooked his fingers one last time, pushing Virgil over the edge.

The pilot cried out Tycho’s name, the sound echoing around the bathroom as it gave way to moans, whimpers and near screams. His insides convulsed around Tycho’s fingers, his cock twitching as he came hard down the inventor’s throat, bucking and arching as every drop was milked from him.

Letting him ride it out and come down at his own pace, Tycho swallowed all he had to offer and pulled off of his cock, placing soft kisses to his stomach, every inch of skin he could reach as he gently pulled his fingers out of his lover’s body.

Virgil hissed and whimpered at the loss as Tycho pulled out, the smaller man whispering reassurance into his skin.

Once he was out, Tycho moved to the sink on his left, washing his hands and grabbing his wash cloth, bringing it over to the bath where he dipped it into the still hot bath and gently pushed Virgil’s legs up, swiping it over his sensitive area.

The pilot whimpered at the sensation but did not protest, his mind still spinning as he came down from the most intense orgasm of his life.

“Ty, Tycho,” he whimpered, drawing the smaller man’s attention. He looked up to his lover.

“Yes, my love?” he replied, finishing cleaning Virgil up and throwing the washcloth into the wicker wash basket in the corner of the room.

Virgil whimpered, unable to form words as he reached out for the inventor, making it clear he wanted him near.

Tycho moved up immediately, meeting Virgil’s lips in a kiss as the pilot sat up, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close.

There was an edge of desperation to Virgil’s kisses as he clutched at his lover, his body still trembling.

“Are you okay?” Tycho asked as he pulled back to look at the larger man.

Virgil drew a shuddering breath, pulling Tycho closer and nodding against him, trying to let his body catch up.

“That was, amazing,” he panted, lips finding the side of Tycho’s face and kissing the soft skin. The inventor turned, his lips crashing into Virgil’s, both moaning into the kiss.

They held each other for a long time, just kissing, savouring the moment as Virgil’s body finally came back down from its orgasmic high.

“You enjoyed it, then?” Tycho murmured against Virgil’s lips as they finally broke their kiss.

Virgil nodded, a fresh flush rising to his cheeks.

“It was so intense,” he breathed, “I’ve never felt anything like that before. I…” he hesitated, pecking Tycho’s lips, “I think I want more, I want you.”

“Not now,” Tycho whispered, “you’ll be sore, you need…”

Virgil groaned in frustration, laying back and pulling Tycho with him, lips insistent as he wrapped his legs around the inventor, pulling him close. He bucked his hips up, urging Tycho to take him.

“Please,” he whimpered into the kiss, “I want this, I need this.”

Tycho shook his head, holding back a moan at Virgil’s enthusiasm.

“I love you,” he murmured, “but I… I can’t, I… please.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil panted, the grip his legs had on Tycho’s hips loosening a little, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t,” Tycho reassured him, his heart beating in his throat, “I’m… I want to, but, I don’t… I don’t want to push, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil repeated, pulling Tycho closer, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” the inventor smiled weakly, snuggling into the larger man, “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You could never,” Virgil reassured him, stroking a hand through his hair, “I just got… carried away. I’ve really never felt anything like that. It was amazing. _You’re_ amazing.”

“Thank you,” Tycho murmured, his own cock twitching as it demanded attention between his legs. Virgil didn’t miss it, pushing the smaller man up and reaching for his cock.

Tycho batted his hands away, shaking his head.

“You don’t have to,” he insisted.

“I want to,” Virgil murmured, wrapping his hand around the base of Tycho’s cock, pumping his length slowly.

“Fuck,” the smaller man hissed, throwing his head back, “I’m so close already… seeing you like that, being inside you…”

“I can’t wait for you to fuck me,” Virgil murmured, the words drawing another moan from his lover, “when you’re ready, when you finally push into me, when you finally have me, cum inside me…”

“V-Virgil, fuck, you’re… I love you,” he whimpered, hips bucking up as pleasure surged through him.

“I love you too, more than I could put into words,” Virgil replied softly, using his free hand to pull Tycho forward, crashing their lips together. “You’re mine,” he growled, sending another bolt of pleasure through the inventor’s body.

“All yours, always,” Tycho moaned, throwing his head back and arching into Virgil’s touch. “Fuck, I’m so close, I’m, _fuck_ ,” he whimpered, crying Virgil’s name as he came in thick white ribbons over his lover’s hand and his own stomach, nearly falling backwards as his head spun. Virgil reached out for him in time, grabbing hold of him and pulling him close as his hips bucked and his body trembled, riding out his orgasm.

“F-fuck, fuck, Virgil, fuck, I, I love you, I…”

“Shh, it’s okay, everything’s okay,” Virgil breathed against his ear, shuffling closer to him, “I’m here, everything’s fine.”

“I love you,” Tycho sobbed, overwhelmed.

“I love you too, so much,” Virgil whispered against his skin, lips seeking out lips as they kissed again.

The pilot was pretty sure he’d developed an addition to Tycho’s lips; they were constantly on his mind, every moment they weren’t on his.

Minutes passed as they remained in their embrace, kissing slow and languid, stretching the moment out as long as they could. When they finally broke apart, they were both panting for breath.

“We should get cleaned up,” Tycho said with a tired smile, nodding towards the bath.

“Look how well that worked out last time,” Virgil grinned, his smile fading a little as he regarded his lover. “Tycho, I… thank you. For… doing that to me. I never thought I would ever trust someone enough to let them… I’m sorry if I pushed too far, I got swept up in everything and I… I never want to push you into anything, it was wrong of me, I…”

“Shut up,” Tycho smiled at him, “I’m just glad you enjoyed yourself. You did amazing, and… I want to make love to you, I really do, but I… no-one’s ever… I’ve never been allowed to, before.”

Virgil paused, cocking his head.

“Allowed?” he asked, hesitant. Tycho sighed as he nodded.

“I’ve always been… how do I put this… submissive, I guess? Always the one getting fucked, never the one doing the… you know…” He sighed again. “And every time I ever asked, I either got excuses or…” he shuddered.

Virgil pulled him close, kissing his head.

“No-one is ever going to treat you like that again, you understand? You… I want you to feel comfortable, confident with me. No matter how long it takes.”

“Thank you,” Tycho whispered into his neck, planting a soft kiss there, “and thank you for trusting me enough to… I’ve been thinking about it for days, how I could make you feel good. I… I’m so glad you’re… just thank you.”

There were tears in his eyes as he pulled back to look at Virgil, who returned his watery smile, emotion swelling in his chest.

He wanted to hurt everyone who had ever wronged Tycho; how anyone could ever harm such a wonderful person was beyond him.

“You only deserve the best,” Virgil breathed. “I want to give you what you want. This relationship is about us, not just me or you. It’s what we both want. I’d never deny you anything. It’s why I… I wanted to try. And you were right, it was… you made me feel amazing.”

“I’m glad,” Tycho sniffed, leaning forward to kiss Virgil’s cheek. “This is all so… if someone had told me when I first met you that less than a month later, we’d be doing this, that I’d have you, be fucked by you, everything we’ve done, I would have laughed in their face. You’ve… you’ve turned my world upside down, in the best way, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you.”

“You never have to thank me,” Virgil murmured, flushing red. “But I understand what you’re saying.” He hesitated for a moment, biting his bottom lip. “You know, before I came and met you in Thunderbird 2 that day, when we went through the console together, I jerked off thinking of you.”

Tycho raised an eyebrow, a sly grin slipping onto his face.

“Really?” he asked, a little breathless. Virgil nodded, his blush getting more pronounced. “What were you thinking about?”

“You bent over the console and me coming up from behind you, pressing myself against you.”

“Fuck,” Tycho breathed, wondering how he could _possibly_ be getting turned on again.

“And you sucking me off while I sat in my flight seat, which, you know, kind of happened.”

“You were really thinking about me like that?” Tycho asked, a little stunned.

“Can you blame me?” Virgil asked with a soft chuckle, “you’re _really_ hot. Plus you kept like, dropping hints. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And after…” he paused, taking a breath to steady himself. “You’re the first person I’ve been with since… Jason, and… honestly, I never thought I’d feel anything like this again; loving someone, being this close and comfortable with them. You’ve taken what I thought I knew and thrown it out the window. This is one of the best things to ever happen to me. _You’re_ one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

“Virgil,” Tycho breathed, trying to find words to express just how deeply in love he felt in that moment. He could think of nothing, so opted to lean forward and kiss his lover, lips gentle and soft as they both melted into it.

After a few minutes, Tycho sighed, pulling away and wordlessly pulled Virgil back into the bath, both men slipping into the still warm water, taking turns washing each other with one of the softest sponges Virgil had ever felt.

It was incredibly intimate, the two of them stealing kisses from each other as they ran the sponge over each other’s shoulders, backs, necks, arms and thoroughly cleaned each other up.

By the time they were finished, the water was growing cold and their skin was prune like, but neither of them could bring themselves to care.

Tycho jumped out first, Virgil sitting on the edge of the tub and swinging his legs over as his lover bought him both a towel and a dark green dressing gown. He regarded it for a moment, shooting a questioning look at the inventor; the shade was shockingly similar to that of Thunderbird 2.

“I, uh, may have had it made… for you,” Tycho admitted with a shy smile, flushing red. Virgil grinned widely, looking at the details on the robe; red trim on the bottom and ends of the sleeves, and an embroidered gold ‘V’ on the breast.

“This is ridiculous and I _love_ it,” Virgil grinned, “but why? You really didn’t have to.”

“I know,” Tycho smiled fondly, “but I… I kept thinking about you being here, coming to stay. I wanted you to feel as at home here as you made me feel on the island. I want you to be comfortable here.”

Virgil felt his heart swell as he looked between the robe and Tycho, gingerly standing up and pulling it on before moving to his lover, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him with all the passion he could muster.

“You are… there are no words to describe just how incredible you are,” he breathed against his lips. “You… I love you. You’re generous, you’re kind, you’re _wonderful_. I don’t know how I went so long without you in my life.”

“I should have come over and said hello when I first saw you, the day of the Hypercar accident.”

“I saw you, stood there, and I thought you were gorgeous then,” Virgil admitted, “but I never thought someone like you would be interested in someone like me.”

“Oh, yeah, I don’t go for strapping, muscular, gorgeous, heroic types at all, total turn off,” Tycho grinned. Virgil cocked and eyebrow and grinned back.

“Such a shame, I should go then,” he joked.

“Don’t you dare,” Tycho smiled, kissing him again. “Let’s go to bed,” he yawned as he pulled away, finally feeling his tiredness settle in.

“Sounds like a plan,” Virgil nodded, following Tycho with careful steps, testing his knee without his brace on as he walked over the smooth tiled floor and back out onto the plush carpet of the bedroom, using his robe to dry himself off before hanging it up on one of the wall hooks and sliding into Tycho’s huge bed.

As Tycho did the same, Virgil took the opportunity to look around the room, impressed with the colours and décor, the bed in particular.

“This bed is amazing,” he mused as Tycho slid under the covers next to him, his arm reaching out and wrapping around Virgil’s chest as he laid his head on him, snuggling close. “Is it hand carved?”

“It is,” Tycho smiled proudly, “I love classic stuff, like wooden furniture. There’s something comforting about it, I can’t quite explain. Likely from growing up in a wooden cabin surrounded by forests.”

“That sounds amazing,” Virgil smiled, “it was in Scotland, right?”

“How did you guess?” Tycho asked with a sly grin.

“Oh, you know, just a hunch,” the pilot shrugged, laughing when Tycho nudged him playfully.

“Yeah,” Tycho smiled softly, thinking of the cabin where his parents resided now, “we grew up in the Highlands. Beautiful area, but in the middle of nowhere. Solar power, an underground well for water, six mile journey to shops… it was tough but we loved it. We moved to Edinburgh when it became apparent I was a little... different. I needed a better education, so my parents gave up everything for me.”

“That’s amazing,” Virgil smiled sadly, “but it’s a shame you had to leave it behind.”

“Not so bad, seeing as I bought it back the second I got the chance and now my parents live there,” Tycho smiled, a little shyly. “They loved the place, so it felt only right to gift it back to them. They gave up so much for me, I… I always pay my debts, even if it takes some time.”

Virgil sighed and smiled at the inventor, who sat up to look at his lover and cocked his head in a questioning manner.

“I know I say it a lot, but you really are an amazing person,” Virgil said, tone sincere. “You are just… I wish I’d met you sooner. I feel like there’s so much we could have done, so much I… I wish you’d been a part of… I know it’s dumb.”

“It’s not,” Tycho smiled, “I know the feeling. I really wish I’d had the balls to come and talk to you that day.”

“Same,” Virgil sighed, pulling him back down to snuggle up. “But I’m so glad we’re here now. We should get some rest, anyway. It’s been a long day.”

“It has,” Tycho sighed back, snuggling up into him. “Goodnight, love.”

“Goodnight babe,” Virgil replied with a smile, dropping a kiss on his head. Tycho made a contented noise as he threw his arm back over Virgil’s stomach, pressing their bodies together.

It sure had been some day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I'm stuck in a bit of a rut right not but things are slowly coming together!
> 
> In other news, I met Marc Silk yesterday! (He's the voice of Captain Rigby in TAG and aww he was awesome! :D)
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed this! :D


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's a little jealousy between lovers?
> 
> [Graphic depictions of violent nightmares/flashbacks]  
> [Depictions of panic attacks, mentions of abuse]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the lovely Lexibirds, as is the one coming after!
> 
> Thank you for the inspiration hun <3

A soft snoring drew Tycho out of his deep, restful sleep, his body resisting being woken even as his brain spurred into action.

He felt heavy, sated and warm, a lot of that having to do with the strong arm draped over his stomach and the breath tickling his cheek.

Blinking open his eyes, he looked to the source of the breath (and noise), a smile crossing his lips, unbidden as he saw Virgil, still sound asleep, laid next to him with his lips pressed against his bare shoulder.

Even in sleep, the larger man pressed soft kisses against the skin as Tycho shifted against him, the arm over his stomach tightening possessively.

A shiver of delight ran through Tycho’s body as he sighed; this was perfect.

Well, it would have been perfect if his bladder was not sending insistent messages to his brain, telling him to get up and go about his business.

He sighed again, trying to wiggle away from Virgil’s grip, which only tightened in response.

“Babe,” he murmured softly, not wanting to wake his lover but seeing no other option. “Virgil? Babe, I need to move.”

Virgil murmured something unintelligible, an unhappy look crossing his face as he opened bleary eyes, a soft smile rising to his face as his lover swam into view.

“Morning, gorgeous,” he mumbled, blinking a couple of times.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Tycho returned, shifting a little again. “I’m sorry but I have to get up, can I move?”

“Mmm, why?” Virgil protested, drawing him closer again a pressing soft kisses against his shoulder, still half asleep.

“Because I need to pee,” Tycho admitted, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Hmph, fine,” Virgil sighed, releasing his grip on the inventor’s body, “but you’d better come hug me again.”

“I will,” Tycho promised with a smile as he slid easily from the bed and moved to the bathroom.

The moment he was back out after taking care of his needs, he found Virgil splayed across the bed, tangled in the covers and snoring lightly again, face down.

He regarded him with a fond look, sighing and realising he should really sort something for breakfast. After last night’s activities, he was _starving_.

Padding over to his side of the bed, he picked up his comm, wincing as it beeped, indicating it was disconnected from the wireless docking station. He looked to Virgil, who shifted in his sleep, his body tensing then relaxing once more.

Tycho didn’t have the heart to wake him; he knew just how precious sleep was to all of the members of International Rescue, and was determined to let him rest. He also idly wondered just how long it had been since Virgil had gotten more than a few hours uninterrupted sleep.

From the stories he’d overheard and been told when he was on the island, talking to Brains, it was likely a long time.

Satisfied that Virgil wasn’t going to wake up from the noise once he’d settled back down, Tycho pressed the button on his comm, looking at the time. 5:28am.

It was early, but then again, they had gone to sleep pretty early, both exhausted from travel and the events of the day.

Thinking to his currently empty fridge, he considered his options; there was a good breakfast bar that delivered locally which would be opening in around half an hour, so he could pre-order and have food there soon after. Nodding to himself, he decided that would be the best option, wondering what he should get.

Waking Virgil to ask him wouldn’t be fair, so he decided to get a bit of everything.

He sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to shift it too much and disturb his lover, and began clearing notifications from his comm in order to get to the app.

There were a lot of them; Laughlin had apparently gone to the press about what had happened, and there were several messages from publications asking for comments, pressing for information about his involvement with International Rescue.

He sighed, shaking his head. There was always going to be blowback from what Virgil had done; he just hoped that he was prepared for it.

Scrolling further through the notifications, he saw a few more messages from Saz, telling him not to answer any requests for comment, that she would do it in the morning. Looking at the location of her messages, he saw she was back in Hopehouse.

He tilted his head in confusion; the timestamp was fairly early in the evening. There was no way she could have driven back in that time… unless…

A smile crossed his lips as he shook his head, sighing.

Saz had always been a sucker for blue eyes. He just hoped Scott knew what he was getting into. She’d been his friend for years, and he knew she had rather… alternative… tastes, as much as she’d tried to hide it.

Even further down the messages, he saw an encrypted one from a channel he didn’t recognise. He opened it, curious, feeling a small jolt of anxiety when he read it.

 _‘This is Kayo. Virgil isn’t answering his comm and hasn’t checked in. If there’s no contact before 6am tomorrow morning, I will be coming to check in. Please remind Virgil he is supposed to check in at regular intervals. I understand you two are ‘busy’ but I would appreciate it if he stuck to security protocol’_.

Tycho swallowed hard, immediately tapping a response out; Kayo seemed nice, but there was something about her, some underlying feeling he got that she was _not_ someone to be crossed.

 _‘Sorry, Kayo. Got a bit caught up with paperwork and dinner. Ended up watching Robot Battles til late. V’s still sleeping but I’ll get him to call you when he gets up. Sorry again! – Ty x’_.

He added the ‘x’ automatically and kicked himself as he pressed send before he could delete it.

Sighing as he resigned himself to the embarrassment, he shook his head and moved to stand, reasoning that it was almost time to order breakfast.

He pulled on his black robe and tied it loosely around his waist as he padded to the bedroom door, throwing one more fond look back at his lover as he still slept, tangled in the bed sheets.

The pilot suddenly shifted in his sleep, moving just enough that his ass was revealed by the movement of the covers. Tycho couldn’t help but grin; he did have a fucking gorgeous butt, after all.

Biting his lip, he hesitated for a second before pulling out his comm and snapping a photo; that was a sight he never wanted to forget.

 

*-*-*-*

_Blood, fire, the sound of concrete cracking, the roar of VTOL engines struggling against crosswinds, screams of children, of adults, of everyone… was he screaming too? Scott was screaming, why was he screaming? Where was Alan? Where were Gordon and John?_

_Suddenly, everyone was gone and it was just black... just black and nothing, not even a sound._

_A light, bright and sourceless spilled down from above, illuminating the area around him._

_He wanted to speak, to shout for help, but something told him not to. ‘Stay quiet or they’ll get you’, that’s what Scott used to say; the monsters in the dark._

_Mom said he was being cruel, but what if he was right? What if they dragged him away..._

_Monsters came out of the shadows, but not childhood monsters; The Hood, The Mechanic, every person who had tried to hurt them, lied to them, betrayed them, stepped out of the shadows into the light around him one by one, glaring, leering, laughing._

_Then him._

_Jason._

_Green eyes and wavy brown hair tied back in a ponytail, grinning as he dragged… what was he dragging out of the shadows with him?_

_Virgil’s blood ran cold as he saw Jason’s hand grabbing a fistful of Tycho’s hair, pulling the inventor into the circle as he whimpered in pain._

_“No,” Virgil croaked, reaching a hand out. He tried to step forward but found himself locked to the ground._

_Jason’s grin widened as he pulled Tycho upright by his hair, pressing the inventor’s back flush against his chest._

_“You think he’d ever be safe from me?” Jason cackled maniacally, “That you’d ever get away from me?”_

_He bared his teeth as he spoke, eyes dancing with delight at the horror on Virgil’s face as Tycho’s gaze met his._

_“Virgil, please,” he begged, tears rolling down his cheeks._

_“Tycho,” Virgil sobbed, reaching a hand out. The moment it left the circle, a burning sensation ran up his arm, causing him to recoil. He cried out in pain and desperation._

_“You can’t save him,” Jason teased, “you’ll watch him die. Everyone dies. Your mom, your dad, your brothers will die and so will he, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”_

_A flash of silver caused Virgil’s stomach to drop, nausea rising through him as he saw the gun, Jason’s spiderlike hands lifting it to Tycho’s head where he pressed the barrel against his temple._

_Tycho whimpered and struggled against him, trying desperately to get away._

_“Virgil, please, help me!” he screamed, eyes desperate as he looked to his lover, “why won’t you help me? Please!”_

_“Tycho, no, no, fuck, no, please, PLEASE!”_

_Jason’s finger squeezed the trigger and…_

“Tycho!” Virgil screamed as he was torn awake by the nightmare, clutching his chest as he rolled onto his side. He blinked a couple of times, getting his bearings before looking around the room; he was still at Tycho’s but… where was he?

He shifted to sit up, looking around frantically.

He wasn’t here. _He wasn’t here_.

Panic rose up in Virgil like he’d not felt in a long time, his heart hammering, hearing becoming shallow and unfocused as he tried to move; he had to find him.

Just as he made it to the edge of the bed and moved to stand, the door to the bedroom flew open, Tycho appearing in the doorway with a frightened look on his face.

“Virg, what happened? I heard you scream, are you okay?”

Virgil couldn’t even begin to explain the relief he felt wash over him as he saw his lover standing in the doorway, his resolve crumbling as tears began to run down his cheeks.

“Hey, hey, what’s the matter?” Tycho asked gently, beginning to step forward when a loud _bang_ caused Virgil’s gaze to snap back up to his lover, to watch as his eyes became unfocused and his body crumpled to the floor, a hole in the back of his head.

Virgil opened his mouth in horror, gaze sliding back up to the figure in the doorway, the familiar body and toothy grin sending shivers down his spine.

“Now what do we have here?” Jason chuckled lecherously, advancing on Virgil in a predatory manner.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Virgil pleaded, looking between Tycho’s body and his murderer, trying to scrambled back across the bed, desperate to get away, “please, don’t, no!” he screamed as Jason began crawling across the bed towards him.

“You’ll always be mine, dove,” Jason purred, “ain’t nothing you can do to change that.”

“No, no, I’m not, I’m…”

“ _Virgil! Virgil, it’s okay, it’s okay, come back to me, babe._ ”

Tycho? But…

Like opening a blind to let in sunlight, the nightmare washed away. Virgil’s mind snapped back to the real world as he awoke, panting for breath in Tycho’s arms, his entire body drenched in a cold sweat.

He let out a cry of relief as his body shook, every muscle tense.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he heard Tycho whispering above him, pressing soft kisses into his sweat soaked hair.

“Ty, Tycho, I…” he tried, shifting to try a get a look at his lover; he needed to see him, to hold him, to know he was alright.

“Shh, just relax, it’s okay, come on,” Tycho urged him as the smaller man slipped his body out from under him and laid down next to him.

As soon as Tycho was laid down in front of him, Virgil’s arms were around him, pulling him close and holding him tight.

“F-fuck,” Virgil sobbed, tears streaming down his face, “I… fuck, Ty, I lo, I love you, I…”

“Shh,” Tycho urged him, wrapping his arms around Virgil in return, rubbing soft circles in a soothing manner, “everything’s okay, it’s okay. Just breathe, stay with me and breathe, okay? Come on, breathe with me,” he instructed, taking a deep breath.

Virgil closed his eyes and followed suit, concentrating on matching his breathing with Tycho’s.

It was difficult at first, his chest still heaving as his lungs demanded air, breath hitching, but it was not long until he finally found his rhythm again, his heart rate slowing and mind beginning to clear.

Images from the nightmare flashed across his mind still, silent tears rolling down his cheeks as he held Tycho close to him, fingers grasping at his naked back.

He was alive and here and okay, and that’s all that mattered right now.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil said softly, voice still broken.

“Don’t,” Tycho shook his head against him, “please, don’t. You did nothing wrong. Shh.”

Virgil couldn’t bring himself to respond as another sob escaped his lips. He buried his face in Tycho’s neck, pressing kisses to the soft skin there.

He felt utterly exhausted, sleep lapping at his mind once more.

“Shh, rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Tycho,” Virgil murmured as sleep claimed him once more.

*-*-*-*

When Virgil awoke again, it was from a dreamless sleep.

His eyes flickered open as he took a deep breath, shifting to sit up. The nightmare was still lingering in his mind, his stomach fluttering with fear as he looked around the room, finding himself alone.

Careful of his knee, he shifted his body to sit on the edge of the bed, throwing the duvet off and stretching his arms up, wincing when he heard a couple of pops. He looked around the room for his crutch, remembering that it was still in the lounge and sighed in frustration; he’d had to make the careful journey there on his own.

He looked to the green robe Tycho had presented him with yesterday hanging up on the wall and slowly moved to stand, a soft gasp leaving him when his knee shifted a little as he began to move towards it.

Slipping it onto his body, he marvelled again at the colour, the detailing, and felt a wave of affection rush over him for his lover; it was one of the most thoughtful gifts he’d ever been given.

It was fluffy and oh so warm on his bare skin as he carefully made his way to the door, instinctively grabbing onto the doorframe as he reached it. He took a deep breath and opened it slowly, a delicious smell wafting into the bedroom as the air on the other side hit him.

It was food; real food!

The scents of bacon, sausages, hash browns and eggs hit his nose, his stomach rumbling in response.

Man, did he miss real food.

It was a luxury none of them could really afford. Between nutrient paste, ration bars and the occasional hot meal, they did okay, but they could really do with a more structured meal routine, and they all knew it.

Lost in thought, he didn’t even notice Tycho register his presence from the other side of the room, a grin lighting up his face.

“Good morning, you,” he greeted him softly, grabbing his crutch from the sofa as he padded across the lounge towards his lover, “how are you feeling?”

“Okay,” Virgil smiled back at him as he came back to his senses, unable to fight the pull of his lips; Tycho just being here was enough to make him smile almost constantly. “Feeling better now. That was one hell of a nightmare.”

“It looked it,” Tycho nodded, his smile fading a little, “you don’t have to but, if you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

Virgil nodded and sighed, taking his crutch and fitting it to him arm before looking back to his lover.

Tycho was dressed only in his own robe, hair still tousled from sleep. A rush of arousal ran through Virgil’s body as he realised he too was likely naked underneath.

He sighed again, lifting his free hand to Tycho’s face and cupping his cheek, swiping a thumb gently across the soft skin. Tycho’s eyes fluttered closed as he leant into the touch, a breathy sigh leaving him.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” Virgil murmured, mesmerised as Tycho’s chestnut brow eyes opened one more, fixed on his. He didn’t have his glasses on yet, and Virgil noticed, not for the first time, just how beautiful his eyes were. They were like polished oak, flecked with gold. “You are… I dreamt you got hurt and…” he hesitated, “and other stuff that just… wasn’t good. But it’s done, it’s over and…”

“I love you,” Tycho breathed, cutting him off, “and please don’t be sorry. I know it can’t be helped. I was just scared for you. You looked so terrified. I wish I could take back all of the things that have happened to you, I… It’s not fair.”

Virgil let out a fond chuckle as he drew Tycho closer.

“No, it’s not,” he agreed, “but if I had to go through all of that to lead me here, to lead me to you, it was worth it.”

“It’s still not fair,” Tycho protested, even as Virgil’s lips covered his own and the larger man began to kiss him in earnest.

The inventor wrapped his arms around Virgil’s large frame, shivering in delight when the pilot’s hand slipped from his face to his neck, pulling him closer.

Tycho moaned into the kiss, completely lost to the sensation of Virgil’s lips on his, his mind entirely focused on the larger man.

He wanted to forget about breakfast, forget about everything and drag him back into the bedroom, to pleasure him until he was the only thing on his mind; to never leave that room again.

But a gurgling sound from Virgil’s stomach put paid to that idea, the pilot smiling into the kiss as he pulled away.

“Sorry,” he murmured sheepishly, “I’m pretty hungry. Food smells amazing!” He grazed Tycho’s neck one last squeeze, a promise of what was to come. The action sent a shiver through the inventor’s body, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he drew in a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.

“Well, I wasn’t sure what you wanted, and I had nothing here so I ordered in from the breakfast bar down the road. Got a bit of everything,” he grinned, grabbed Virgil’s hand and leading him across the room towards the dining room. The balcony doors open, letting in a soft breeze.

Virgil’s eyes widened as they approached the table; there were plates piled high with bacon strips, sausages, pancakes, fried eggs, scrambled eggs and toast as well as jugs of maple syrup and icing sugar with sprinklers on top.

“Holy hell, Tycho, how much do you think I eat?” Virgil chuckled fondly, squeezing his lover’s hand. The inventor blushed a little.

“I may have gone a tad overboard, I’ll admit, but I wanted you to have as much as you like. Whatever’s left we can use for lunch.”

“Okay, that’s a fair point,” Virgil grinned, his stomach gurgling again in anticipation. “Right, I’m going to need to dig in before my stomach starts eating itself,” he chuckled, eyeing up the plateful of sausages with a look of what could only be described as longing.

“Help yourself,” Tycho smiled, handing him an empty plate and pulling out a chair for him.

“You really are the best,” Virgil sighed as he regarded his lover for a moment, wondering how well he’d cope with fucking him with a full stomach.

Tycho blushed, gesturing to the sausages Virgil was hovering next to.

“Shut up and eat,” he instructed, his heart hammering in his ears.

“Yes sir,” Virgil nodded, attacking the stacked sausages.

*-*-*-*

Twenty minutes later and with empty plates, both men sat back in their chairs, content and full. Virgil sighed happily as he rubbed his full stomach, trying to remember the last time he’d eaten a proper meal like this.

“That was better than sex,” he grinned, debating internally as to whether he could stomach another sausage or not; they were really good, but he’d eaten six already, as well as a mountain of pancakes and bacon smothered in maple syrup.

Tycho raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you saying you’d rather eat sausages than be with me?” he asked in a mock hurt tone. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“I quite clearly said ‘sex’, meaning general sex. Not sex with the love of my life.”

“I’m the love of your life?” Tycho asked, his eyes lighting up a little.

Virgil flushed and looked down for a moment, caught as much off guard by the admission as Tycho was.

“Yeah, I guess you are,” he smiled, his cheeks still flushed pink as he tried to sit up and reach for his lover, finding himself unable to due to the swollen feeling in his stomach. “Uh, I’d, like, kiss you but I think I’m stranded here for a while. Fuck, I feel so fat.”

“Well you don’t look it, if it’s any consolation,” the inventor grinned, eyes still dancing from Virgil’s admission, “you’re still fine looking to me.”

“Pshaa,” Virgil waved his hand, “stop. You’ve just watched me eat at least half my weight in sausages and pancakes, you can’t _seriously_ be telling me you still find me attractive after that.”

Tycho grinned.

“ _More_ attractive, if that’s possible. There’s nothing like watching your boyfriend deep throat a sausage to _really_ get you going.”

“Oh fuck you,” Virgil huffed, wishing he could gesticulate rather than just sit uselessly in the chair, still weighed down by breakfast.

“You already did,” Tycho winked, “several times, in fact.”

“I am aware,” Virgil sighed, “uh, seriously, I feel so fat.”

“Maybe this was my plan all along,” Tycho chuckled, “to keep you trapped here by putting food in front of you until you couldn’t move.”

“It’s a good plan,” Virgil smiled, stretching his arms above his head. “Fuck, I haven’t felt this full up in forever.”

“We can always change that,” Tycho winked, drawing another blush to Virgil’s cheeks as he caught the double entendre.

“You… fucking hell, Ty, don’t tempt me,” he murmured, a thrill of arousal running through him. Tycho couldn’t help but blush at his reaction, trying to ignore the thoughts of pinning him against the table and fucking him rushing through his head.

He may have never done it to anyone else before, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been thinking about it.

“Hey, random question,” Virgil asked, breaking him out of his train of thought, “you don’t happen to know where the nearest gym is, do you? I feel like, after pizza and this,” he gestured at the leftover food on the table, “I should probably at least do a basic workout, try and make myself feel like less of a pig.”

Tycho forced a smile, a flash of concern running through him. Virgil didn’t miss it.

“And before you start on the worry train, the doc’s have signed me off for upper weight workouts. Leg day will have to wait, for now at least. But I can still do the basics.”

Tycho sighed and nodded, undeniably excited at the prospect of getting to see Virgil work out a bit. Lifting weights… _sweating, grunting with exertion, coming back to him full of adrenaline…_

He shook himself mentally.

“Well, there’s actually a gym in the basement,” he admitted. “I try to… you know, work out, but it’s just a bit… I’m busy, and…”

Virgil caught the change of his tone, the slight hint of shame that hung around it. He’d figured Tycho had some issues with his body, the way he was constantly praising Virgil’s and how he would often flush whenever he was naked around him.

“Hey, you’re fucking gorgeous,” Virgil reassured him, “and I know I’m a bit biased, but, seriously, the only reason I do it as much as I do is because I have a bit of time here and there and because it helps on the job. I’m never going to judge you for not having a six pack, babe.”

“I know,” Tycho sighed, “just, compared to you, I…”

“You’re gorgeous,” Virgil repeated, finally shifting himself forward in his chair and leaning over to take Tycho’s hand, “the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He ran his thumb over Tycho’s knuckles as the smaller man bit his lip, looking into his lap. “Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, okay? You’re… fuck, Ty, you’re the closest thing to perfect I’ve ever seen.”

Tycho’s eyes were brimming with tears now; throughout every experience of a relationship he’d had, he’d never been spoken to like this.

He’d fantasised about it, about finding someone who would respect him, treat him as an equal, treasure him for something other than money or status, about how they’d spend all their time together gazing into each other’s eyes, whispering sweet nothings and having _so much_ passionate sex, but to have Virgil fulfilling that fantasy, right in front of him… it was overwhelming.

“Hey, are you okay?” Virgil asked softly, his hand squeezing Tycho’s. The inventor nodded as the first of many tears began to spill from his eyes. He kept his gaze downcast, not wanting to look at his lover as emotion took hold of him.

Virgil, however, had other plans.

He stood up, shuffling closer to Tycho and wrapping him up in a hug. The smaller man responded immediately, wrapping his arms around Virgil’s waist and burying his face in his stomach. One of the pilot’s hands found its way to Tycho’s head, threading through his hair and stroking gently.

“It’s all true,” Virgil continued above him, voice cracking a little with emotion of his own, “you’re amazing, you’re, honestly, one of the best things to ever happen to me. You’ve pulled me out of such a dark place. You’ve made me feel things I thought I never would again. You’ve bought me back from the fucking _dead_ , Tycho. I owe you so much, I… I love you, more than I ever thought I could love someone else, especially after such a short time, but… you’re so funny, sweet, so, _so_ clever, witty, handsome, kind, generous, you’re just… fuck, you’re perfect, and I don’t know who ever made you feel like you weren’t, who ever made it so you don’t think you deserve to hear all this, but I will tell you now and forever, they were so, so, _so_ wrong.”

Tycho sobbed against him, pulling him closer.

“Virgil,” he mumbled uselessly, brain not co-operating as he tried to find the right way to express his gratitude, the burning love he felt for the other man.

His last two relationships had been hell. Lies, manipulation, thefts, exposure of his personal life, abuse… he’d all but given up. He’d been left exposed to the outside world, humiliated and hurt in ways he didn’t even think were possible.

There were scars on his body that were healed over but carried with them memories that would haunt him forever, scars on his mind that he didn’t think would ever fade.

He’d been left feeling worthless, throwing himself into work, into moving on and forgetting, accepting that this was it now, it was just him, and he’d been okay with that. He had friends, he didn’t need anything else, not if that was the price he paid.

But Virgil had wiped that slate clean. He was beginning to trust again. There was something about the larger man, an aura that made him want to open his life to him, to let him in and keep him there forever.

“I love you,” he whimpered against the pilot’s stomach, “I love you, so much.”

“I love you too,” Virgil smiled, giving his hair a gentle tug, a reassurance.

Tycho gave a shaky sigh as he pulled back, wiping at his face with the back of his hands.

“Shit, I feel stupid,” he admitted.

“Don’t,” Virgil smiled, backing off to sit down again, wincing a little as his leg shifted. “You have no reason to feel anything but amazing.”

“How are you even real?” Tycho sniffed, finally looking up to Virgil. His eyes were bloodshot and watery, but they sparkled with affection, “and how did I get so lucky that _I’m_ the one you choose to love, out of every other person on the planet?”

“There’s no-one else for me,” Virgil smiled, “not anymore.”

Tycho gave a shaky sigh, standing and moving to Virgil, bending in front of him and catching his lips in a soft kiss. His hands moved to stroke along his jaw as the pilot’s hands moved to his waist, just resting there as he melted into the kiss.

It only lasted a few seconds, but by the time the smaller man pulled away, Virgil was filled with a renewed hunger for his lover. He was about to say something, to initiate something when he looked at Tycho and saw just how exhausted he looked.

“You should lay down, get some rest,” he suggested gently, finding Tycho’s hand and squeezing it gently. “I’ll pop down to the gym and I can wake you up when I get back. How does that sound?”

“Well I was hoping to come and watch you work up a sweat,” Tycho admitted with a soft smile. Virgil raised an eyebrow, wondering how long it would be before he could start doing press ups again; he’d love to have a shirtless workout in front of Tycho just to see him get worked up. “But I am really tired.”

“You look it,” Virgil said softly. “Seriously, go get some rest. I won’t be long. I just need to grab some workout clothes out of my bags.”

Tycho looked across to the pile of Virgil’s belongings that still sat by his door.

“Yeah, we should really get you unpacked at some point.”

“Other things took priority,” the pilot grinned, “it happens.”

“I love you,” Tycho murmured again, voice soft.

“I love you too, now get your butt into bed.”

“That an order?” Tycho challenged, gasping when Virgil stood up suddenly, grabbing his wrists and pinning them to his sides as he pressed their bodies together, their lips grazing against each other as the table squeaked in protest at Virgil pushed him against it.

“You’re damn right it is,” he breathed, the urge to have another kind of workout coming thick and fast.

“Fuck,” Tycho whispered his body shaking. Virgil gave a wicked grin.

“Now get your ass into bed, get some rest and I’ll see you when I come back up, okay?”

Tycho nodded, swallowing hard.

“And don’t you dare even _think_ about touching yourself until I get back up, you hear?”

“O-okay.”

“Atta boy,” Virgil praised, relishing in how Tycho submitted to him, how eager he was to be dominated. He’d always been an imposing figure, always dominating, and he loved it, particularly with how receptive Tycho was, but thinking back to how Tycho had been in the cockpit of Thunderbird 2 when he’d sucked him off, he wondered briefly how difficult it would be to draw that side of him out again.

He’d be more than willing to submit to the smaller man should be want it, and after the night before, he was rather eager to try it.

But for now, he enjoyed being in charge, cock twitching under his robe as Tycho slinked over to the bedroom door, discarding his own robe as he opened the door, leaving him naked and exposed to Virgil’s hungry gaze for a brief moment.

The inventor threw a wicked grin over his shoulder before he disappeared through the door.

“Fucking tease,” Virgil murmured, grabbing his crutch and making his way over to his bags.

*-*-*-*

Tycho woke with a bit of a start, confused. He wasn’t usually one for naps during the day; too much to do usually. But his outpouring of emotion earlier had drained what little energy he’d had left, with his body still recovering from the time differences, it had definitely been needed.

He felt a little more refreshed now, and that was something. Stretching blindly over to his bedside cabinet, he reached for his comm, looking at the time.

8:32. He’d been asleep for about an hour.

Looking around the room, he saw no signs of Virgil.

He sighed as he pulled himself out of bed, hesitating as he moved across the spot where his lover had slept next to him last night. Pausing to contemplate his action for a moment, he leant forward and inhaled deeply into the pillow; it smelt like him.

 _Fuck_ , he thought as he pulled away, feeling a little bit creepy, _I’m really in deep here_.

He padded into the bathroom and washed up quickly before pulling on some jeans and a loose fitting shirt. Once he was dressed, he headed out the door, only to find the apartment empty.

His stomach dropped a little. Virgil’s bags were still there, but the pilot was no-where to be found.

Was he still in the gym?

Biting his lip, Tycho decided to head down just in case. He hated to think about the possibility of Virgil being stuck down there. What if he’d injured himself?

Feeling a small wave of panic rising in him, Tycho took a deep breath, steadying himself. He was likely fine, just still working out and taking it easy like he’d been told to. No need to panic. He was a grown adult, he could look after himself.

Even in his head, his own words sounded unconvincing.

*-*-*-*

The trip down to the gym was only a few minutes but Tycho was physically shaking by the time he pressed the access button to the automatic doors. They slid open, revealing the line of lockers on either side going into the gym.

When he’d added his designs in the building, the gym and showering facilities had been among his top priorities, wanting to make sure the residents had access otherwise costly and sometimes out of reach facilities. Not only had the gym been included but a building only laundrette and a games room where they and their visitors could go and relax. It was a popular area, and one that he got a lot of feedback about.

But none of that was at the forefront of his mind as he made his way into the gym, noting a couple of the residents busy on bikes and treadmills, earphones in and in their own worlds.

He rounded the corner of the locker towards the area that housed the resistance areas and weights, coming to a sudden stop as he caught sight of Virgil on the lateral pull-down machine.

The pilot was shirtless, his sun-kissed skin slick with sweat as his back muscles flexed with his movement, arms straining and bulging as he let the bar rise up in a controlled manner, arms tensing as he pulled it back down to his chest and let it rise again.

From his vantage point behind Virgil, Tycho could see, not only his back, but thanks to the mirrored wall in front of him, the play of his face as he focused through the exertion, breathing out as his actions became a little more strained.

Tycho suddenly wanted to walk over and touch him, to have his hands on him.

A voice from behind him made him jump.

“He’s a bit of alright, isn’t he?”

Tycho span around, meeting the floppy blonde hair and green eyes of Flynn, one of the residents of the lower floors.

“Christ, Flynn, you scared me!” he chastised him gently, turning his attention back to Virgil for a moment.

“Sorry, Tycho,” Flynn chuckled softly, “but _seriously_ , who _is_ that dude? He just turned up about an hour ago and he’s been tearing up the machines since. He’s a beast and, man, those muscles!”

Tycho held in a frown as Flynn stepped beside him, quite obviously licking his lips in delight as he watched Virgil work out.

“I’ve had my eye on him since he came in, he’s just… wow. Man, I wish I could be as cut as that. Do you think he’s single?”

“I would think not,” Tycho snapped, a little sharper than he meant to. Flynn cocked his head. “Sorry,” Tycho mumbled, face flushing. Flynn smiled in return.

“Naw, man, it’s okay. He’s fair game, I guess. Just… yeah, wow, I’m not going to be sleeping tonight, if you know what I mean.”

“Flynn, that’s…”

“Who’s your friend?” Virgil’s voice from Tycho’s side made him snap his head round. His eyes fluttered over Virgil’s bare chest, still slick with sweat. He didn’t miss when Flynn’s did the same, the younger man grinning appreciatively.

“Ah, Virgil, this is, uh, Flynn. He lives on the third floor.”

Virgil smiled politely, grabbing a towel from the rail next to him and wiping at the sweat on his neck and chest.

“Nice to meet you, Flynn. You know Tycho?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“I do,” Flynn grinned enthusiastically, reaching out a hand. Virgil shook it automatically, smile turning a little awkward as he noticed Tycho bristling a little at his side. “ _Everyone_ here know Tycho, he’s like, the man! But, no offence, Tycho, I’m more interested in _you_. Haven’t seen you around here before, you new to the building?”

“You could say that,” Virgil replied with a smile, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that Flynn was shuffling closer, his eyes darting over Virgil’s body, obvious and unashamed.

“Well, it’s nice to have some eye candy in the building. You’re a specimen, dude. How much can you bench?”

“Don’t bench, just weights and resistance,” Virgil said, side eyeing Tycho who was trying his best not to frown.

“Man, that’s awesome,” Flynn grinned, lifting his hand up again and moving to touch Virgil’s arm. The pilot shifted back, avoiding the touch. “Uh, sorry, dude,” Flynn blushed, “I guess I should ask first but, wow.”

Tycho was practically grinding his teeth now. Virgil chuckled good naturedly, trying to think of an out.

“Well, Flynn, it’s really nice to meet you, but…”

“Wait, you never told me how you know Tycho!” Flynn grinned at the inventor, ignoring how annoyed he looked. “He never told me he had such gorgeous friends. Where you been hiding this one, huh Tycho?”

Tycho wanted to shout, to cause a scene, even just to launch himself at Virgil, but his upbringing, his respect for Virgil and fear of what would be said if it got out kept him stood still, fists clenched at his sides as he shrugged, forcing a smile.

“Oh, I’m his boyfriend,” Virgil said casually, wrapping an arm around Tycho’s shoulders. Flynn’s face dropped, his demeanour completely changing as he turned to Tycho, eyes almost fearful.

“Oh, my god, I’m _so_ sorry Tycho, uh, Mr Reeves, I had no idea, oh my god, I’m so sorry, I…”

“It’s fine,” Tycho said through gritted teeth, forcing another smile.

“It’s… oh my god, I should go,” Flynn shook his head, his face bright red now as he looked anywhere but Virgil, “I’ll… I’m sorry,” he almost shouted as he turned heel and left the gym, practically sprinting out the door.

“Well, that went well,” Virgil chuckled, looking to Tycho who was still tense and frowning next to him. “Babe? Everything okay? How come you’re…”

“You didn’t come back up and I was worried about you,” Tycho snapped, fists still clenched, “and I come down here to find you being swooned over and…” he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down again. “I’m sorry, I just… I need to go back upstairs and calm down.”

Virgil’s face fell, fear written over it.

“Tycho, I…”

“It’s not you,” Tycho insisted, trying to reassure him, even as he wanted to turn and run, the jealousy still running through him like poison, bringing awful thoughts to his mind. “It’s me. I’m… I’m processing. I’m not angry,” he explained slowly, “I just don’t deal well with… that.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil murmured, an expression on his face that made Tycho feel a little bit nauseous; he looked genuinely sad, hurt as he looked at his lover, “I shouldn’t have been showing off, I…”

“Can we go upstairs, please?” Tycho asked in a small voice, needing to be alone with his lover again, “I…” he leant forward as close as he dared, knowing there were still people in the gym who could see them, overhear them. “I need you, alone,” he all but whispered.

Virgil swallowed hard, nodding as he looked over to the machine he’d been occupying.

“Sure, I’ve just got to clean up and I’ll be up, okay? I’ll be a few minutes.”

Tycho nodded and turned quickly, heading back to the elevator. His head was spinning, brain pre-occupied with one word; _mine_.

Virgil was his, and he needed to let him know. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him to _claim him, mark him_. No-one was going to take him from him, not after the things he’d made him feel, the things he’d bought out of him.

He swallowed hard, he made it to the elevator, thoughts swirling around his head as he made his way back up. He wouldn’t have long before Virgil was arriving back upstairs, but it would be long enough to get a few things ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been going through some stuff lately, sorry I'm so behind guys.
> 
> Working hard to catch up.
> 
> Hope you're still enjoying it! <3


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil wants to make Tycho feel better.
> 
> [Graphic depictions of sexual activity]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is entirely for the lovely Lexibirds. <3 love you babes!

Virgil’s stomach was churning as he made his way back up to Tycho’s apartment, fresh out of the fastest shower of his life and with his gym bag looped around his shoulder. A sense of dread had settled over his stomach and he was physically shaking.

They’d had such a wonderful morning, and _of course_ , he had to go and ruin it by being a show off. He just _had_ to take off his shirt and draw attention to himself.

He wasn’t oblivious to his physique, far from it, and there would have been a time when he would have relished in people watching him work out but now… the only person he ever wanted to see him like that was Tycho, and he may well have messed that up.

Head spinning with concern; he wondered what he’d find when he got back up. He was half expecting to find his bags chucked outside the door.

What if they were? What if Tycho had had enough of him already? This couldn’t be over because of something like this, could it? He hadn’t even flirted with the guy! He hadn’t said _anything_.

A swell of emotion ran through him; fear, anger, hurt.

He’d fix this. He’d explain, he’d tell him what happened, he’d apologise and…

The door to the elevator slid open, revealing the hallway down to Tycho’s door.

There were no bags, no sign of anything wrong as he approached. Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, a little more confidence in his steps as he approached the door.

He hesitated as his hand hovered over the handle, leaning on his crutch as he stopped mid grab. Changing his tact, he knocked a little hesitantly.

The few seconds it took Tycho to answer the door were the longest of Virgil’s life, but eventually the inventor opened up, eyes downcast.

“Ty, I…” Virgil began, cut off when Tycho surged at him, locking their lips together and swiping his tongue across the pilot’s mouth.

Virgil moaned into the kiss, taken by surprise as Tycho grabbed his free hand, drawing him inside and slamming the door behind them.

He barely had time to drop his gym bag onto the floor before Tycho’s hands were on his shoulders, pushing him back against the door and his lovers lips were back on his.

The kiss was fierce, Tycho seizing Virgil’s bottom lip between this teeth and tugging as his hands went to the larger man’s joggers, hand slipping under the waistband. Dextrous fingers found his half hard cock, stroking it with long, languid strokes as his lips went to Virgil’s neck, sucking, licking and nipping the skin.

Another moan tore from Virgil’s lips at the sensations assaulting him, his crutch falling to the floor with a loud clatter. His hands found their way to Tycho’s jeans, beginning to unbuckle his belt.

“No,” Tycho breathed, pulling away and removing his hand from Virgil’s joggers.

The pilot whimpered at the loss of contact, eyes opening to question his lover. The words died on his tongue as he looked to Tycho, seeing his eyes almost black with lust, lips kiss swollen and cheeks flushed.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil panted, trying to regain some control over the situation, “I thought you were angry at me, I swear, I didn’t even talk to the guy, I…”

“You’re mine,” Tycho growled, cutting him off.

Virgil was taken aback, the tone new coming from the usually placid man.

“I am,” he breathed, a fresh wave of arousal flooding through him.

“I need you,” Tycho whimpered, “I need to show you, need to know you’re mine.”

“I’m yours, only yours,” Virgil whispered as Tycho’s lips found his once more, his hands pulling at the pilot’s urging him towards the bedroom.

Virgil let himself be led, grateful that Tycho was taking it slow as he limped slightly with him, his muscles still on fire from the gym.

As soon as they were inside the bedroom, the door slammed shut and Virgil was pressed against it, Tycho’s body grinding up against his.

“F-fuck,” Virgil whimpered, shaking with need, “Tycho, I…”

“I’m going to undress you,” Tycho said softly, cutting him off again, “and then I need you to get on the bed and put your hands above your head.”

“Why?” Virgil breathed, his cock twitching at the prospect.

Tycho swallowed, struggling to get the words out. Virgil used the opportunity to lean forward and peck his lips, hoping it would give him the confidence to continue.

The inventor moaned a little at the contact, trying to express his gratitude.

“Do you trust me?” he murmured against Virgil’s lips. The larger man nodded fervently. Tycho drew a shuddering breath, trying to get the words out before his confidence deserted him. “I’m going to tie your hands together and fuck you,” he said, voice fading a little. “Is that… is that okay?”

Virgil groaned, trying to control himself, to stop himself from running over to the bed and prepping himself, right there and then.

He nodded, unable to formulate a coherent response as he drew a deep breath, the decision to hand himself over to his lover completely and utterly made.

“Good,” Tycho breathed, looking more than a little relieved. “I’ve been thinking about this for… for so long and… he had no right to… You’re mine.”

Virgil nodded again, his brain still not working to supply words.

Tycho returned the gesture, taking a steadying breath as he guided Virgil over to the bed, mindful of his knee, and sat him down. His hands slid down his bare shoulders; the pilot was only in his black vest top and grey joggers now, having slipped into the clean clothes the second he’d gotten out of the shower.

The inventor removed his glasses and placed them carefully on the bedside table before he reached for his lover again. His hands slid down Virgil’s sides, relishing in how firm the muscle was beneath the skin. When he reached the hem of the top, he slipped his hand underneath, the palm pressed against the pilot’s stomach, stroking the taut skin as he worked to pull the material away from his body.

Virgil moaned at the touch, throwing his head back a little and letting himself get lost in the sensation. He shifted enough to help Tycho pull the top over his head and off of his arms, shivering at the change of temperature.

The cold shiver was short lived as Tycho’s hands returned to his skin, stroking every inch they could find. Deft fingers grazed over his nipples, eliciting another moan. As he tipped his head back this time, Tycho’s lips finding the sensitive skin once more, teeth nipping at an area just above his collarbone as he began sucking at the skin.

Virgil moaned even louder as Tycho marked the skin, fingers still pinching and rolling his nipples. His hips bucked up, desperate for contact.

It was a few more seconds before Tycho pulled back, eyes on the area of skin his lips had been focussed on, admiring the dark red mark now left on the skin.

“You’re mine,” he growled again. Virgil whimpered under the attention, reaching his arms out to touch his lover. Tycho slapped his hands away, grabbing him by the wrists and pinning them to the bed in the process. Virgil whimpered with need, hips bucking again.

Tycho grinned at the action, his confidence starting to grow once more.

“No,” he whispered, his lips travelling to Virgil’s ear now. His tongue flicked out against the shell, sending a shiver through the larger man. “Tonight is about you. I want to take you, to _claim_ you. You’re _mine_. No-one else will ever have you again, you hear me?”

Virgil whimpered again, nodding. He turned his head, desperate to kiss Tycho. The inventor pulled away, eyes blown as he looked down at Virgil, admiring his erection tenting his joggers prominently.

Weighing up his options, Tycho decided to drag this out a little longer, his own hands going to the bottom of his shirt and drawing it up over his head in one swift motion. He threw it carelessly onto the floor before bringing his hands to his belt.

His actions were slow and careful as he undid the buckle and moved to the zipper, watching the frustration on Virgil’s face grow. He took his time, teasing and torturously slow as he began to push his jeans off of his hips, revealing he wasn’t wearing underwear. His cock sprang up above the waistband of his jeans, hard and leaking already.

Virgil’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, memories of the board room rushing through his head. He wanted to taste Tycho again, to have him in his mouth, but he didn’t want to break his lovers stride. He’d not experienced this side of Tycho yet, but he was determined to let him have this; he was quite clearly shaking, his confidence coming and going, and Virgil was going to do everything he could to make sure he got exactly what he wanted out the experience.

Tycho’s hands brushed over his cock, a soft groan of pleasure escaping his lips.

“Fuck, I want you so badly,” he whimpered, giving the thick flesh a slow stroke, thumbing the head.

“Want you too,” Virgil croaked, voice shaking.

Tycho’s words were still echoing through his mind; he meant to fuck him.

His body was aching, shivering with need. He wanted this, he _needed_ it, but the fear was still there, the underlying worry that he could be too scared, he would freak out.

He must have tensed at the thought, Tycho’s body shifted suddenly to move next to his on the bed, linking their hands together.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he smiled, a little shakily, “If this is too much, I can…”

“No,” Virgil cut him off, “I want this, I really want this, I’m just… I don’t want to leave you disappointed.”

“You could never,” Tycho breathed, “every second I spend with you is the new best moment of my life. The fact that you let me do that to you last night… I… I’m sorry if I pushed you, I just… I want you, more than I can explain, in every way I can get you. I want to taste you, to _feel_ you.”

Virgil groaned at the words, cock twitching.

“Fuck, I love you,” he whispered. “I… I want you to fuck me. I want this.”

“You’re sure?” Tycho asked, voice soft and even. Virgil looked at his love, how his eyes were wide, earnest, flickering over his face as if looking for any hesitation, any sign he didn’t mean what he said. The affection he felt for him in that moment was a little overwhelming as he nodded, squeezing Tycho’s hand.

“I’m sure. I want you to be the first and last man to have me.”

That was all the encouragement Tycho needed, his hands going to Virgil’s chest, pushing him backwards and moving to straddle him.

Virgil gasped at the action, his lover taking the opportunity to lean forward and kiss him, slipping his tongue into his mouth.

The pilot reached down, hooking his thumbs underneath the waistband of his joggers and forcing them down, trying to kick them off along with his shoes from his position. Tycho took note and reached down, dragging Virgil’s hands away from their task and pinning them above his head.

“Don’t,” he instructed gently as he pulled back a little, shifting his grip so he had a firm hold of Virgil’s wrists. “I want to… I want to be the one to undress you.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil whispered, leaning up to kiss him again. Tycho pulled back a little more, unable to fight a smile when the pilot let out a frustrated groan.

“You will be,” Tycho grinned.

Virgil shuddered as another wave of arousal washed over him at the promise.

“Fuck,” he whispered, leaning his head back against the bed. Tycho’s lips were back on the skin in seconds, nipping and sucking and leaving more marks there. Virgil could do nothing but moan and writhe under his touch, desperate for more contact.

But Tycho was taking his time, making sure he marked his lover thoroughly, so anyone looking at him would know he was taken.

Virgil’s cock was uncomfortably hard now, his desperate whimpers turning pained. Tycho took note and pity on him, finally pulling away and moving to stand. Virgil watched him with hazy interest as the smaller man removed his own jeans before turning his attention to Virgil’s joggers, boxers and socks, pulling them off in one swift motion, leaving him completely bare.

The inventor bit his lip as he regarded Virgil, a now familiar hunger in his eyes.

“Fuck, you are something else,” he whispered. Virgil blushed under the attention, feeling a little exposed.

The feeling was short lived as his attention was caught once more by Tycho as he leant over to his nightstand, pulling out the draw and plucking a length of black rope from it. He held it up, showing Virgil clearly.

“I’m gonna tie your hands together, okay? It’s a firm knot but I can get it undone in seconds if you need me to. You just let me know, yeah?”

Virgil nodded. He felt apprehensive, but there was a primal need rushing through his blood now; he needed Tycho inside him. He needed to be fucked.

His body was aching, cock throbbing at the thought. This was really going to happen.

Tycho smiled softly, his movements fluid as he returned to the bed and his former position, straddling Virgil. He rolled his hips, unable to hold back a moan as their cocks met, flesh sliding against flesh.

Virgil similarly was lost to it all, throwing his head back. Tycho grabbed his wrists and pulled them above his head, pressing them into the pillows as he looped the soft black rope over Virgil’s wrists, pulling them together and tying an expert knot.

Once he was satisfied with his work, Tycho sat up a little, admiring his handiwork and glancing down at Virgil’s face. The pilot tested the knot, pulling as hard as he was able and finding no give. He gave a shaky smile, his arms beginning to tremble.

“You still okay?” Tycho asked, concern lacing his voice. Virgil nodded.

“I’ll let you know if I’m not,” he promised, “this is just… very new.”

“I’m not all innocence, you know,” Tycho winked, “got some tricks up my sleeve.”

“Have you now?” Virgil grinned, intrigued.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the inventor whispered as he lowered his lips again, meeting Virgil’s in a soft kiss. It was a reassurance, something to ground him as Tycho began to slip away, heading to the cabinet draw once more. “Move back onto the bed, just watch your knee. Get yourself comfortable, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Virgil smiled, shuffling himself back as best as he could. He managed to manoeuvre fairly well, considering, and soon found himself back laying on the plush pillows, the sheets underneath him a little cold.

Tycho returned to him with a fresh bottle in hand, discarding the wrapping carelessly onto the floor as he clambered back onto the bed.

“You comfortable?” he asked as Virgil lifted his arms above his head once more, his knuckles brushing the headboard as he settled down.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good,” Tycho smiled, looking him up and down again with a sigh. “Fuck, your arms are so big,” he noted, running a hand over one of Virgil’s biceps. The larger man shivered at the touch; he’d always been a whore for being touched, and with Tycho, the sensitivity he felt seemed to be amplified.

“Please, don’t stop touching me,” he pleaded. He might have been embarrassed at the need in his voice if it were anyone other than Tycho.

The inventor smiled, waving the bottle at his lover.

“You’ll be happy to know this doubles as massage oil.”

Virgil groaned at the touch, his cock twitching against his thigh as Tycho removed the cap from the bottle and poured a generous amount of the liquid onto his palm. Carefully placing the bottle down, he rubbed his hands together, spreading the oil.

“Can you turn over?”

Virgil nodded, rolling himself over from his hips and settling down as best he could with his arms still bound together.

“That’s it,” Tycho praised him, “just relax.”

Virgil shuddered as Tycho’s hands made contact with his back, his hands slicked with oil, gliding across tense muscles and firm skin. The pilot let out a long, low moan as the pressure increased, pushing the tension from him.

Tycho continued his journey, hands sweeping up and over his lover’s shoulders, pressing hard, finding knots and kneading them out with care and attention. Moans and whimpers continued to spill from Virgil’s lips as Tycho’s hands moved to his lower back, teasing the muscles and working out all the kinks he found.

The whole experience had Virgil melting into his touch, feeling completely taken care of, cherished. Tycho continued the pressure, hands sliding along his sides until he reached his hips, hands suddenly bypassing his ass to massage the backs of his thighs.

As his hands travelled along the strong muscles, Tycho drew a shuddering sigh, entirely focused on making Virgil feel as good as possible.

He continued his actions until Virgil was completely relaxed and pliant beneath him, breathing soft and steady. The touch on his skin grew lighter as Tycho ran his hands up his thighs, towards his ass.

Virgil’s breath hitched a little as he felt Tycho’s hands run across his backside, a soft groan escaping his lips as deft fingers slipped teasingly between his cheeks, so close to his entrance.

“Fuck,” he mumbled into the pillow.

“Turn over,” Tycho instructed him, moving away from his to grab the lube once more.

Virgil complied, shifting over as quickly as he was able. As soon as he was on his back again, Tycho was straddling him, their lips meeting once more.

Tycho groaned into the kiss as he ground his hips against the larger mans, eliciting a moan from him.

“I need you,” he purred against Virgil’s lips, grinding his hips again for emphasis.

Virgil wanted to have his hands on him, to run them up and down his body, tease his nipples and pull him closer as he pulled away, but as he struggled against the knots, he found Tycho’s handiwork sound.

“Nah uh, you don’t touch me until I say you can,” the inventor grinned wickedly, his smile faltering for a second. “You’re mine.”

“All yours,” Virgil breathed, almost automatically.

“When Flynn was talking about you,” Tycho admitted, eyes downcast, “I wanted to come over and claim you, right there and then. To show everyone you were taken. I wanted to press you against those mirrors and fuck you, in front of everyone. It just… it came out of no-where and…” he looked back up to Virgil, eyelashes fluttering as he swallowed his fear, “it was like this primal feeling. I… I don’t think I’ve felt it before. I just _needed_ you, like you were the only thing that was going to keep me alive.”

“Fuck,” Virgil whimpered, bucking his hips, “I need you, Ty.”

The inventor shuffled back, settling himself between Virgil’s legs as he reached for the lube once more.

“Would you have let me?” he asked, voice smooth and deepening with lust. “Would you have let me fuck you in front of all those people? Would you have given yourself to me if I asked?”

“Yes,” Virgil whimpered, “any, anything you want, please.”

Tycho chuckled.

“I would never have asked you,” he smiled, “but just knowing I could have had you in front of him… boy, I would love to have seen Flynn’s face as I sank into you. He’d been watching you, you know. Watching you work out, how your body moved.”

Virgil groaned as Tycho poured a generous amount of lube onto his fingers and slicked them up.

“He’d probably been imagining you naked, what your cock looked like, how it would feel when you slid inside him. He wanted to be fucked by you, and I don’t blame him, I mean, look at you,” he gestured to Virgil’s body, a thin sheen of sweat now making his toned and tensed muscle shine like he was carved from marble, “I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to be fucked by you.”

“O-Only you, Ty, I only want you,” Virgil panted, trying to reassure him. His words turned to moans as Tycho’s slicked finger brushed against his entrance, his legs tightening in response.

“But it’s only me that gets to have _you_ ,” Tycho breathed as he pressed the tip of his finger against Virgil’s entrance, “only me that gets to finger you and…” he paused, drawing a breath as he looked over the larger man, his head thrown back, hands tied above his head, chest heaving as he panted for breath.

This was actually happening. He was actually here, with Virgil Tracy. They were actually _together_.

He felt giddy for a second, the realisation late and almost overwhelming as he held in a giggle.

Virgil caught it, looking up with almost fearful eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, voice shaking.

“Nothing, babe,” Tycho reassured him, “just… wondering how the hell I got to be the one to be fingering you right now,” he whispered as he pressed his finger inside Virgil.

The pilot let out a long, loud moan as he threw his head back against the pillows, trying to force himself to relax. His body adjusted faster than it had before, Tycho’s finger still feeling foreign inside him but no-where near as uncomfortable as he had been the first time.

“F-fuck!” Virgil panted, his hands clenched into fists above his head, “Ty, fuck, Ty!”

“That’s it, relax babe,” Tycho cooed, giving the pilot time to adjust as he writhed and moaned underneath him.

It wasn’t long before Virgil’s moans turned desperate, his hips bucking, trying to take Tycho deeper.

“You ready for more?” he asked, voice cracking a little. Virgil nodded fervently, hips bucking again.

Tycho pumped his finger a couple of times, watching Virgil’s face carefully for any signs of discomfort before he withdrew almost completely, slipping another finger inside as he pushed back in.

Virgil cried out beneath him, throwing his head to one side and biting his lip as the sensation inside him increased, the feeling of being full still new and exciting but with an edge of discomfort as he was stretched out.

“You’re doing so well, V,” Tycho reassured him as he reached with his free hand for the lube again, the liquid trickling down where his fingers were still buried in Virgil’s body, pumping in and out a little faster now, the process eased further by the extra slick.

Virgil could only moan in response, trying to keep his eyes open as he looked to his lover. But his body was overwhelmed, his mind trying to catch up, and he could do nothing but lean his head back and let Tycho take control.

“I’m going to add another,” Tycho said softly, “is that okay?”

Virgil groaned, nodding slowly. It would be the most he’d ever taken inside him, but he knew, if he was going to have Tycho, if he was going to let his lover fuck him, he needed to be prepped properly.

He wanted this to be perfect; he wanted to remember this fondly for the rest of his life.

“That’s it,” Tycho praised as he pulled his fingers out, adding a third and pushing back in slowly.

There was an edge of pain to the movement this time, Virgil wincing and letting out a shuddering groan.

Tycho’s actions stilled, his focus entirely on Virgil.

“Is it too much, babe?” he asked, throwing the lube down and running a hand up Virgil’s side, trying to reassure him.

“J-just, give me a, a second,” Virgil panted, trying to let his brain catch up. He felt full, but there was a deep warmth that he felt knowing it was Tycho who was inside him. He wanted to let go, to let Tycho do whatever he wanted, but there was panic rising inside him.

He was about to give up, to accept defeat, the fear of disappointing Tycho welling in him as he opened his mouth, only to find his words turning to gasps as he felt soft lips on his cock, coaxing it back to life.

Opening his eyes, he turned his gaze down, finding Tycho’s chestnut eyes staring up at him as he licked and sucked at the head of his cock, pleasure washing away the fear he’d felt.

It was grounding, in an odd way, Tycho’s lips and clever tongue bringing him back down as his fingers began to slip in and out again, the pain faded now, only pressure remaining.

His hips bucked of their own accord as the tip of one of Tycho’s fingers brushed against that spot that had driven him so wild last time, another moan ripped from his throat.

It was now or never.

“F-fuck me,” he begged, voice more desperate than he could ever remember sounding. “Please Ty, fuck, fuck me, please.”

Tycho moaned at the words, taking it slow as he pulled his fingers out of Virgil’s body, leaning over and grabbing the lube again once he was out, leaving Virgil open and panting in front of him, his hips twitching in anticipation.

Heart pounding in his ears and adrenaline rushing through him, Tycho was physically shaking as he poured a bit too much lube onto his hand, coating his cock in a thick layer.

“Ty,” Virgil murmured from above him. Tycho looked up, eyes betraying his fear.

He didn’t want to disappoint Virgil or himself; he didn’t want to fuck this up.

“I love you,” Virgil whispered, adoration clear even though his voice was shaking.

Tycho swallowed a lump in his throat, shuffling himself closer to his lover and placing his clean hand on his hip, stroking the firm skin.

Their eyes met and the moment hung between them, both just staring, breathing, committing this moment to memory.

“You… you sure you…”

“I’m sure,” Virgil breathed, licking his lips. “I… I want you to… to fuck me.”

“I want to fuck you too,” Tycho said, voice breaking a little as he settled himself between Virgil’s open legs again, lining himself up carefully.

Virgil closed his eyes, fighting the tears building there.

He was scared; genuinely scared. He loved Tycho, more than he thought possible but this… this was a huge step, one he didn’t ever think he would be taking.

His body tensed automatically as he felt the tip of Tycho’s cock brush against his entrance, a whimper leaving his lips.

“I can stop,” Tycho insisted, voice quivering, “I can…”

Virgil opened his eyes, lifting his head and looking to him lover; he looked as scared as him, and a shiver of guilt ran through him.

He wasn’t the only one going through something new here. They were in this together, and Tycho was obviously scared.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the inventor admitted.

“You won’t,” Virgil reassured him, swallowing the lump in his throat, “just go slow and steady. I trust you. I… I love you. I’m yours.”

Tycho nodded, taking a steadying breath.

“You’re mine,” he confirmed as he shifted a little, pushing his hips forward.

Virgil tried not to tense as the head of Tycho’s cock pressed against his entrance, the pressure more intense than his fingers had been.

It felt blunt and slick but _huge_ , and he thought for a second that he was going to split open, it was too big, too thick, it…

He let out a whimper as the head of Tycho’s cock slipped inside him, opening him up.

It was like nothing he’d ever felt before, the pressure intense and somewhat uncomfortable, the feeling of being filled, even this little bit, sending his brain into overdrive.

His nerves were screaming, it was all too much and not enough. He screwed his eyes shut, fists clenched above his head as he tried not to tense up.

For his part, Tycho was managing well, his breathing still steady as Virgil’s body gripped him tight. It was more than he’d imagined, the heat, the tight hold, the urge to plunge deeper.

He took a shuddering breath, looking Virgil over. The pilot began to come back to the situation at the same moment, both men locking eyes, the uncertainty between them beginning to melt away as Tycho slid in a little further, Virgil writhing and moaning at the sensation.

Tycho too let out a groan, trying to keep his pace slow and smooth as he slid, inch by inch, inside his lover.

Virgil was beginning to feel like he was burning up from the inside out; there was pain, but it was grounding him as Tycho pushed further inside until he was fully sheathed within him.

Once Tycho’s movements stilled, he gave a long exhale, relieved that the worst of it was over. Beneath him, Virgil drew in a deep breath, his body still fighting to adjust.

“You, you still okay?” Tycho asked, panting for breath when he spoke. Adrenaline was still rushing through him; he felt like he’d run a mile.

Virgil nodded, forcing his eyes open to look at his lover.

“It’s… I feel full,” he admitted, “it’s… a lot.”

“I know,” Tycho smiled softly, trying to keep himself in check, even as his hips tried to buck forward, to bury himself deeper in Virgil’s heat, “just, give it a moment. I promise, it gets better.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil sobbed, closing his eyes again, “I… I don’t know if I…”

He was so close to giving up, to calling an end to this. It just felt so _odd_ , so unfamiliar. The rush of emotion and overwhelming sensations was threatening to take him, and he was getting lost in it.

Tycho sensed the change, so in tune with him already.

“Virg, stay with me,” he pleaded, his free hand running up Virgil’s thigh, “I’m going to move, okay? I promise, it’ll feel good, just…”

“Please,” Virgil whimpered, not sure himself what he was asking for.

Tycho took the word as permission, slowly beginning to pull himself out of Virgil’s body again.

The pilot moaned at the sensation, the drag of flesh inside him sending pleasant shivers through his entire body. It was another new feeling, and added to the assault on his senses.

“That’s it, stay with me,” Tycho encouraged him through his groans, pulling out a couple of inches before sliding back to the hilt.

Both men let out simultaneous moans, Tycho throwing his head back as he set a slow pace, pulling out a little then pushing back in. His thrusts were shallow for the moment, both of them getting used to the new sensations assaulting them.

The room was filled with the sound of their breaths and moans as they moved together, Tycho’s thrusts getting gradually faster, a little deeper.

Virgil began to relax into it, his mind finally catching up and allowing his body to let go, to truly experience the new feelings. The pain was gone, replaced by the indescribable sensation of Tycho’s cock stretching him, filling him.

He felt connected to him in a way he couldn’t explain, that his mind could almost not comprehend; to be this close to someone, to have him take him like this, in a way no-one had ever had him before, it was wonderful.

The urge to kiss him, to be closer to him, to keep him forever and stay locked in this embrace ran through him. He wanted to tell him, to explain how he felt, how much he loved him, how deeply Tycho was imbedded in his heart now, but words utterly failed him as he forced his eyes open and looked to his lover, seeing the exertion and concentration on his face.

He looked beautiful.

“Tycho,” he breathed, drawing the other man’s attention, “I love you.”

The inventor whimpered, his hips bucking as he bit his lip, failing to keep himself in check. The sharp thrust took him deeper inside Virgil than he’d been before, the head of his cock brushing against the sensitive spot within his lover.

Virgil arched his back, allowing Tycho even deeper inside, a cry leaving his lips as white hot pleasure seared through him.

“More,” he begged, voice cracking as he wrapped his legs around Tycho’s waist, dragging him closer as best he could.

Tycho bucked against him again, driving his cock against Virgil’s spot, the pilot writhing underneath him, moaning. The inventor tried to steady himself, his body responding to his lover’s as he set a steady pace, thrusting hard and fast now.

His legs were shaking with the effort as he slid one hand to Virgil’s good leg, pushing it up towards his chest. The action opened the pilot up to him even more, the shift in position driving Tycho even deeper.

“F-fuck, Ty, harder, fuck, I…” he whimpered, face screwed up as pleasure coursed through him.

“You’re mine,” Tycho growled, pumping in and out of his body, fucking him in earnest now. Virgil could only moan at the sensation of being completely and utterly taken, Tycho’s cock brushing against his spot over and over, wave after wave of pleasure washing over him.

He felt his orgasm building, as did Tycho.

Virgil’s body was so receptive to him now, stretched around him, perfect and tight and so warm. He never wanted this to end.

But heat was creeping up his spine, the familiar tingling feeling rising through every muscle, every nerve. He desperately tried to push it down, wanting Virgil to cum first, to get every bit of pleasure he could. He wanted him to remember this.

“I’m yours, always yours,” Virgil panted, words turning to moans as Tycho fucked him harder, deeper. “Fuck, Ty, I love you.”

“Love you too,” Tycho grunted, snapping his hips forward.

It wasn’t a sharp rise but his orgasm still caught Virgil by surprise, the new sensations his body was experiencing dulling him to all the warnings it had been giving out. He threw his head back, moaning loudly and arching his back, hands still struggling against the ropes that bound them.

He wanted to grab Tycho, to hold him close as his orgasm washed over him. A sob escaped his lips as he came in thick spurts on his chest, Tycho’s movements inside him never stopping or slowing, letting him ride it out.

As Virgil’s body clutched at him, muscles tensing with the effort of his pleasure, Tycho was lost.

He drove himself as deep into Virgil as he could, moaning his name. Nails dug into the skin on Virgil’s thigh, marking him further as he thrust in one last time, grunting as he came, harder than he could ever remember doing so before.

“Virgil,” he moaned, “mine.”

“Yours,” Virgil sobbed, breath hitching. He threw his head to the side, arching one last time as he felt Tycho cum deep inside him, his seed filling him up. “Fuck, Ty, fuck!” he whimpered, hands struggling more than ever.

Tycho tried to focus through the haze of pleasure as he came, his free hand going up to Virgil’s arm, dragging his bound hands down over his chest. One tug of an end of rope and the knot was undone, his hands freed.

The moment he was released, Virgil let out a sob of relief, his hands immediately on his lovers arms, pulling him close as he sat up to kiss him, their bodies still joined.

Both were sensitive, overwhelmed as their lips met in a gentle kiss, the movement causing Tycho’s softening cock to slip out of his lover a little.

Virgil whimpered at the sensation, body still over-stimulated.

“Sorry,” Tycho whispered, moving back to sit up even as Virgil’s hands still clutched at him, wanting him close, “give me a sec.”

The larger man nodded, relenting and letting his hands fall to his sides where they clenched as Tycho slowly withdrew himself, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Whimpers spilled from Virgil’s lips, his head turning to the side as Tycho pulled out all the way, exhaling a breath he didn’t even realise he’d been holding once his lover’s body fully released him.

“Fuck,” the inventor murmured, collapsing onto the bed next to Virgil and throwing an arm over his chest. The pilot was on him in moments, arms snaking around his body and pulling him close. They just lay for a moment, chests heaving, breathing each other in and treasuring the moment.

“Thank you,” Virgil whispered, at exactly the moment Tycho said the same. They both looked up at each other, grinning tiredly. Tycho couldn’t hold in a giggle, Virgil melting at the sound as he pulled him close, needing him as close as possible.

“Seriously, thank you,” Virgil murmured, shifting onto his side to look at his lover. His hand moved up to cup Tycho’s face, the inventor looking at him like he was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. “I didn’t ever think I’d…” he pushed out a shuddering breath, leaning forward to kiss Tycho gently. “I’m glad it was you.”

“Virg,” Tycho breathed, kissing him back, arms going around his neck to pull him close.

They kissed for a moment, bodies coming back down from their respective highs, just enjoying each other.

“Thank you for letting me,” Tycho smiled as he pulled back, “I never thought someone would… thank you.”

There were tears in his eyes as he looked back to Virgil.

“Don’t ever thank me for that,” Virgil whispered against him, pulling him close again. Tycho ducked his head under Virgil’s chin, curling up into his chest. “I told you, we’re equals in this. And, fuck, that was… it was strange and really new but, fuck Ty, that felt so good. You made it so good.”

“You feel amazing,” Tycho breathed, pressing soft kisses against his neck, eyes darting over all the marks he’d left; they were going to be there a while. “Being inside you, being that close to you… fuck, it was amazing.”

Virgil sighed, pulling Tycho closer to him.

“This is perfect,” he murmured, pressing a kiss into Tycho’s hair as the inventor snuggled closer into him. “I am really sorry if you thought I was flirting with that guy, I wasn’t, I promise. You’re the only one for me.”

“I’m sorry I reacted like that,” Tycho said, sounding guilty. “I just kept thinking, what if you lose interest, what if I’m not enough.”

“Don’t,” Virgil shook his head, “never think that. You’re… I think you’re stuck with me forever. I can’t even imagine being with anyone else anymore.”

“Me either,” Tycho admitted with a sigh. He shifted around a little bit. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think we might need to get cleaned up you know.”

“Uh, I hate that you’re right,” Virgil chuckled, wincing as he shifted back. His backside was beginning to sting a little.

“You’re gonna be sore for a while,” Tycho smiled sympathetically, “think today is going to be a lazy day.”

“I could go with that,” Virgil grinned. Even though he was a little uncomfortable, it had been totally worth it. A sudden realisation popped into his mind. “Oh, shit, I totally forgot to ask you something!”

“What?” Tycho asked, his chest tightening a little.

“Nothing bad,” Virgil reassured him, “just…” he flushed, wondering if he should leave out some details, “me and Brains were… well shit, we googled you,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“You did what?” Tycho laughed, pulling back to look at his lover, “why on earth would you do that?”

“Because we were arguing over what college you went to and we didn’t want to call you and ask.”

“Oh, okay,” Tycho smiled, a little confused but glad it was nothing more insidious. “So what did you want to ask me about it?”

“Right,” Virgil shook his head, focusing again, “well I happened to see… I know it’s your birthday on Tuesday,” he admitted, “and I wanted to know what you wanted to do for it. It’s part of the reason I came early, I wanted to, you know, take you out for dinner or something.”

Tycho froze. Shit. It _was_ his birthday on Tuesday.

“You know, I totally forgot,” he admitted with a blush, “I know it sounds dumb but… wow, I haven’t even thought about it!”

“You forgot your own birthday?” Virgil asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I’ve been busy,” Tycho reasoned, “the business and the Hypercar relaunch and being on the island… I guess it’s kind of taken a back seat.”

“Well we should definitely do something for it,” Virgil grinned, “I want to treat you.”

“You’re already a treat,” Tycho smirked back, waggling his eyebrows.

“Shut it,” Virgil chuckled, “seriously. I want to take you out. How old are you going to be, anyway?”

“You don’t know?” Tycho grinned, “but I thought you googled me?”

“I, uh, kind of just saw the date and panicked,” Virgil admitted sheepishly.

“Oh, bless you,” Tycho smiled, leaning forward to peck him on the lips. “You know, I don’t even know how old _you_ are.”

“I asked first,” Virgil laughed, nudging him.

“Uh, fine,” Tycho shook his head, holding in a giggle, “I’m going to be thirty six on Tuesday.”

Virgil pulled back a little, surprised.

“Really?” he asked, softly, “I thought you were like, my age… wow!”

Tycho’s gaze turned a little apprehensive.

“Why, how old are you?”

“Twenty eight,” Virgil admitted with a chuckle, pulling him close again. Tycho’s eyes widened as he fought Virgil’s embrace, pulling back to look at him.

“You’re only twenty eight?” he asked, sounding shocked. Virgil nodded, eyes suddenly concerned.

“That’s… it’s not a problem, is it?”

“What, no!” Tycho replied, trying to reassure him, “I just thought… you’re so mature and… Sorry, that sounds bad, I… wow… holy shit, I’ve gone and got myself a toy boy,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I had no idea you were… it’s not a problem, not at all. Wow, I’ve still got it,” he chuckled, leaning back into Virgil. He rested his head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat thundering away.

Virgil chuckled, thumbs stroking the inventor’s arms as he held him.

“Well if it makes you feel any better, I’ve never dated an older guy before. It’s… nice. But yeah, I really thought you were my age!”

“It’s not an issue,” Tycho smiled into his chest. “Bit of an ego boost, actually. Wow, I can’t believe you’re only twenty eight. You act like… you’re so mature and you have so much riding on your shoulders. I admire you, I really do.”

“Thank you,” Virgil blushed, dropping another kiss on his head. “I guess we all had to grow up quick. We’ve all got like these two personalities, work and home, but they kind of start to mesh together after a while.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Tycho admitted, his smile fading. “How…” he hesitated as the question died on his lips. Now was not the time to try into Virgil’s past, not when he would be feeling vulnerable and open.

“How what?” Virgil asked, not missing the beginning of the question.

Tycho thought fast, covering himself.

“How the hell did I get to lucky?” he asked with a soft chuckle, pulling back to kiss him.

“Mmm, that wasn’t what you were going to ask me,” Virgil murmured into the kiss. Tycho shook his head gently; he really didn’t miss a thing.

“No, but what I wanted to ask can wait,” he smiled, kissing Virgil again, “right now, I just want you, here, in this moment, and to enjoy it.”

“You’re awesome,” Virgil chuckled, kissing him again.

They melted back into each other, completely lost as their hands roamed once more. Breathing had turned to moans once more, their bodies aching to be touched when the sound of the doorbell rang through the room from the speaker in the corner.

Both men jumped at the sound, Tycho’s eyes going wide as he turned towards the door.

“Shit,” he murmured, shifting to sit up reluctantly, “whoever that is, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The age reveal is finally here, specifically for Owbi! Sorry it took so long!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this!
> 
> Thank you all so much for commenting and reading as always, love you all! <3


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life on the island is weird at the best of times...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys, I'm still working hard on this!
> 
> Next chapter is well underway so I'm hoping to be back posting weekly again soon, just lots of work and life going on!
> 
> Hope you're all well and thank you all so much for your wonderful comments, as always! <3

Life on Tracy island was never ‘normal’. There was no such thing when every moment was spent waiting for the next disaster, wondering when the next meal or full sleep cycle would be.

TV was banned; they saw too much destruction and sorrow on their missions, they didn’t need it permeating the time they had off as well.

Video games were allowed (just), but they soon lost their appeal after interruption after interruption and never being able to finish a level for being called out at a moment’s notice.

But in times like this, with no major emergencies requiring all of them, everyone was on edge and fidgeting, looking for something to do… anything even repairs.

The island itself was almost completely self-maintained; Brains had developed an army of repair bots to do maintenance, tiny little robots constantly buzzing up and down the launch shoots, through the hangar and around the perimeter, scanning and fixing any issues they could and providing a constant stream of data to the engineer about those that were too big for them alone.

The Thunderbirds were similarly maintained by the automated assembly units he’d created. After every mission, each bird would be scanned by the bots and any repairs, replacements or other technical resets or adjustments that needed to be made could be done within a matter of hours, minimal human contact needed.

Of course, Brains had oversight over everything and weekly reports were presented to Scott (and more recently, Virgil) for review and the bots themselves were maintained by Brains on a monthly basis.

The exception to the rule was Thunderbird 5; being in orbit, it had been difficult to get a proper idea of any issues going on with her, until the arrival of EOS. Now with the AI’s integration into the ship’s systems, she had full oversight of the workings, alerting John when things were about to fail or getting sluggish, allowing him to be pro-active about the workings of his home.

So her announcement to him as he played on the antique claw game Gordon had provided (after filling it with tiny stuffed toy prizes and candy bars) in the lounge that the fourth solar panel and main antennae had both fallen out of alignment surprised him.

“What do you mean ‘they just broke’?” he asked the AI, concerned. Gordon looked up, as worried as John.

“Does this mean Thunderbird 5 is in trouble?” he asked. “Do you want me to go and get Brains?”

“I think that might be a good idea, yes,” John nodded. Gordon bounced across the room to the stairs, always bounding everywhere at top speed. Had Jeff still be around, he would have told him to slow down, warned him that he could fall and injure himself.

But with no-one to keep him in check, he moved at breakneck speed everywhere these days.

As Gordon disappeared from sight, John turned back to the projection of the AI on the table.

“So when did this happen, EOS?” he asked her, a little frustrated. It wasn’t often he spent this long on earth, but whenever he did, things seemed to go wrong.

“Just now,” she said sharply, “you have to come back to Thunderbird 5 and fix it, it isn’t possible for me to realign them.”

“And why not?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

“An object strike has rendered both the panel and the antennae inoperable. Both will need to be replaced externally.”

John sighed.

“Don’t we have spares on board already? Is there any way you can operate the external claw and replace them?”

“I don’t know,” EOS said, a little petulantly, the ring of her being flaring orange for a moment, “maybe I should ask my creator. Oh, wait, that’s you.”

John frowned at her tone.

“EOS, what’s going on?” he asked, worried she was becoming agitated. EOS getting agitated was never a good thing.

“Nothing at all,” she replied, far too pleasant in tone for the now permanent orange glow of her ring, “I’m quite fine up here, on my own, looking after your ship while you pro-create with _her_.”

Shit.

“EOS,” John began, trying to think of the right way to explain what was going on when footsteps behind him caught his attention. He turned, dread filling his stomach as Kayo walked into the room. Turning quickly back to EOS, he found her holographic form gone.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

“Everything okay?” Kayo asked from behind him, approaching with what seemed like caution.

“Yeah,” John lied, sighing when she raised an eyebrow at him. “No,” he admitted. “EOS, somehow she knows what happened between us, and I… I think she’s… jealous? I don’t know. But…”

“John, that’s not good,” Kayo frowned. “The last time EOS got out of control, she nearly _killed_ you. Is this something we should be worried about?”

“No,” John said quickly, a little snappy, “she wouldn’t hurt me. That was different. _She’s_ different now. I just… I need to find her and explain.”

“How do you find an AI who doesn’t want to be found?” Kayo asked, becoming more concerned by the minute.

“With great difficulty,” he sighed, heading down to the hangar.

*-*-*-*

Alan was busy cleaning built up grime off of the portal of Thunderbird 3 when he felt her presence.

John and Scott were constantly on his case, telling him to keep his bird clean. Shame they weren’t as strict with Gordon; he’d never stop cleaning the inside of 4 out. It annoyed him a little bit, but more recently, he’d started taking pride in his ship, cleaning her weekly and polishing the insides, taking the time to get to know her again after years of taking a back seat, of being complacent.

He still had the most to learn out of any of them, but he wanted to be the best he could, inside his ship and out.

The distinct buzzing of EOS forcing herself into 3’s systems hit his ears and he looked around, half expecting to see a physical form manifest.

“EOS?” he asked quietly.

Silence, then a shrill beeping that hurt his ears.

“Go away,” she demanded, tone petulant. “I want to be alone.”

“But this is my ship!” Alan protested. “Can’t you just go back up to Thunderbird 5?”

“I don’t want to,” EOS huffed. If she had a physical form, Alan thought it sounded like she might be crossing her arms and sulking.

“Why not? What’s wrong?” Alan asked, trying not to feel a little odd at talking to the AI.

He hadn’t had much contact with her, even when he and Gordon had covered John the night of his party disaster. He had no reason to, after all. She preferred John over any of them, and they all just accepted that, still a little on edge after her first encounter with them.

He could have sworn she sighed, voice borderline emotional as she spoke again.

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying,” Alan frowned.

“No I’m not.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I want to be alone.”

“Why?”

“Because I do.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“You’re annoying,” she said sharply, her holographic ring form finally flickering to life on the display on the console.

“I know you are, but what am I?” Alan said, sticking his tongue out at her image.

“You are… you are… an annoying human!” she huffed.

“Then why are you talking to me, huh?” Alan challenged, grinning.

“Because you will not leave.”

“It’s my ship.”

A beat of silence fell between the two.

“John is going to leave me,” EOS said, her tone sad. The lights on her holographic image turned blue, a colour Alan had never seen her turn before. “He is going to stay here forever and I’m going to be all alone again.”

Alan was taken aback. The sadness she could convey was odd, and it struck a nerve with him.

“What makes you say that?” he asked softly, “has he upset you?”

“He is courting Tanusha Kyrano,” EOS replied, a little shrill. “She is stealing him from me. I hate her.”

“Oh,” Alan said, a little dumbly. “You know about them, then?”

“I registered their encounter,” EOS admitted. “It was disgustingly human.”

“And why do you think he’s going to leave you?” Alan asked, tone careful. He didn’t want to annoy her, and she was obviously on edge.

“Because after copulation, the natural progression of a relationship is children and marriage, and John will not want to be up with me if he has children and marriage and it’s not _fair_ ,” she whined.

Alan shook his head and laughed, EOS’s lights flickering at the noise.

“You think John is going to, oh, man, that’s too funny!” he giggled, falling back into the pilot’s seat and clutching his stomach. “And you think Kayo…? Could you _imagine_ her _pregnant_? We’d all be dead, oh, god, I can’t breathe!” he wheezed, bent double with laughter.

“I don’t understand what’s funny,” EOS snapped.

“It’s difficult to explain,” Alan said, a grin still on his face, “but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Knowing both John and Kayo, I imagine it’s more… stress relief.”

“John is stressed?” EOS asked, voice softer now. “His body is not showing any signs of distress. You are incorrect.”

Alan sighed, his smile fading a little.

“It’s… it’s a human thing. What we do, all the rescues, it takes its toll, on all of us. John is always answering calls and planning for us, constantly giving us information. It’s… straining. It’s not just physical health we have to worry about, our heads need care too.”

There was a moment of silence as EOS contemplated his words.

“Humans are complex,” she said, voice gentle and even now, “and there are layers to the care they need.”

“Exactly!” Alan smiled again, relieved she was beginning to understand.

“How do I care for John’s needs?”

“I…” Alan paused. “Honestly? I don’t know. You should talk to him, though. He’s not always great with us, but he treats you differently.”

“He does?” EOS’s lights flickered a little.

“He created you, you’re a reflection of him. You’re like… his daughter,” Alan smiled, “which I guess makes you my niece.”

“I think I like that,” EOS said, tone light and airy now, “you are my uncle and John is my creator and father.”

“Uh, yeah… now you say that out loud, that’s a little bit weird,” Alan chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “but if that’s the way you want to look at it, I guess, go for it!”

Alan grinned suddenly, an incredibly evil thought crossing his mind.

“So, uh, if John’s your dad, you should _totally_ call him ‘daddy’. He’d _love_ that,” he smirked, trying not to giggle and give himself away.

EOS’s lights flickered with delight.

“Daddy?” she repeated, whirring away as she searched databases. “This is a common term used by children to address their fathers.”

“Exactly!” Alan chuckled again, hiding his laughter behind his closed fist as he tried to keep a straight face, “he’ll be so happy!”

“I want to make John happy,” EOS chimed, “even though I cannot help John with his stress relief myself, Tanusha helps him and helps to make him happy. She is assisting me.”

“Yeah… she _might_ not see it that way, though, just to warn you,” Alan mused, his laughter fading, “it’s kind of a private matter. She might not want to discuss it.”

“Why not?”

“Because… humans and… relationships,” Alan said, trying to think of a tactful way to approach the subject, “are complicated. It’s… personal, and, uh… I don’t know how to explain it properly, but people don’t usually go around chatting about their personal lives openly.”

“But Daddy tells me everything,” EOS said urgently, “we do not keep secrets from one another.”

“Yes, but this is different,” Alan explained quickly, fighting laughter, “and John has always been private. So has Kayo. You might not want to push this. If John wants to talk about it with you, he will in his own time.”

“But I want to discuss it now,” EOS said, tone petulant once more, “I am concerned about his stress levels and we should arrange a schedule for him and Tanusha to have intercourse in order to abate that stress on a timescale that…”

Alan put his hands over his ears.

“Ahhh, no, I don’t want to discuss this, EOS! What John and Kayo do is their own business, I don’t _ever_ want to think about… that!”

“Then how am I meant to make the proper arrangements if no-one will help me?” she asked, beginning to get agitated again, “why must it be so secretive? It is a health issue. Maybe if I approached Scott Tracy…”

“No!” Alan shouted, “Do _not_ do that! Scott would go _crazy._ ”

“Why?”

“Because… it’s… he wouldn’t…”

“Because he doesn’t know yet, EOS, and because he wouldn’t approve,” came John’s voice from the cabin door where he stood in his space suit, arms folded disapprovingly. “What have you been telling her?” he asked Alan, tone accusatory.

“Nothing!” Alan replied, his hands up in a surrender motion, “she came and started talking to me and…”

“Alan was explaining that you need mental stress relief and that your intercourse with Tanusha assists with this,” EOS chimed happily, Alan blushing bright red.

“That’s not what I…”

“And I was attempting to discuss a timetable schedule for you and Tanusha to be intimate in order to reduce your stress long term,” the AI continued.

John frowned at his brother.

“You’ve been what?”

“I didn’t say anything!” Alan protested, “I was just trying to explain to her… she thinks you and Kayo are gonna have kids and abandon her, what was I supposed to do?”

“What?” John asked looking at EOS’s display, “EOS, where did you get that idea from?”

“My records indicate that intercourse between humans often results in long term relationships and courtship, the end goal of which is reproduction and commitment ceremonies. Given your age and that of Tanusha, it would be logical that you would look to use the optimum reproductive window of your species to propagate your bloodline.”

“Oh for… What have I told you about assuming things?” John snapped, the AI’s hologram flickering blue again. “Look, what me and Kayo… Alan, do you have to be here for this?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you what I told her,” Alan frowned as he nodded to EOS’s holographic form, “this is my ship and I’m not leaving.”

“Fine,” John huffed, “I’m heading up anyway. EOS, meet me in the space elevator and we’ll continue this discussion.”

“You’re leaving again? But there are no rescues,” Alan said, frowning back at his elder brother.

“No, and that’s why I have to get back up. Things are… weird.”

“You’re telling me,” Alan huffed, crossing his arms.

John sighed as he regarded the younger man.

“Look, I’m sorry, Al, I really am, but… hang on… how do you even know about me and Kayo?”

“Oh, uh… Gordon might have… seen you?” Alan admitted, “and I kind of… figured it out.”

John’s face went pale.

“Does Scott…”

“No,” Alan shook his head, “just me and Gordon… and possibly Virgil.”

“Fuck,” John muttered, shaking his head.

“Look, you know we won’t tell anyone,” Alan reasoned, “even Gordon. He’s just… worried. This whole situation has been a bit… weird.”

John sighed, moving to sit down in the passenger seat of 3 as EOS just observed their interaction.

“The whole thing was a mistake,” John mumbled. “I lost control of my impulses and… I think I’ve wrecked everything.”

“Why?” Alan asked, confused.

“Because the second Scott finds out, you _know_ he’s going to tell us to stop it. And Kayo’s freaking out about EOS knowing, you and Gordon are lumbered with this dumb secret and…”

“John, it’s not, like, terrible. I mean, you’re only human, and…”

“But it’s _Kayo_ ,” John shook his head, “this is different. I should have…”

“You scared me, earlier,” Alan admitted suddenly, voice small. John immediately stopped, staring at him with regret written on his face, “and if you find something that stops you from doing that, from being that angry, I’m all for it. And I know everyone thinks I have this whole thing about Kayo, but you two just seem to… fit. She gets you.”

“I also understand Daddy,” EOS added, sounding a little indignant.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to say, Alan, but this is… complicated,” John sighed. “This isn’t something I can just… man, I don’t even know what’s going on right now. I’m not even sure if this is going to _be_ a thing. I just… everything is so messed up.”

He paused suddenly.

“Hang on, EOS, what did you call me?”

“Daddy,” EOS repeated happily.

John turned on Alan, his anger apparent.

“What have you told her?”

Alan giggled, shaking his head.

“Well, it sounds like you have a lot of talking to do with a lot of people,” he laughed, trying to slip out of his seat.

“Oh no you don’t,” John snapped, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging back into his seat, “you tell her not to call me that.”

“But you are my daddy, Daddy,” EOS replied, tone happy and light.

John shivered.

“Alan, you are a dead man,” he growled, shaking his head. “Now you need to…”

He looked back to the now empty pilot seat just as the sound of the cabin door behind him slamming shut rang out.

“Alan?” John asked uselessly. He was gone. Little git had escaped. “Shit.”

“Do you wish me to locate Alan, Daddy?” EOS asked sweetly.

John sighed.

“No, thank you EOS. And _please_ , don’t feel like you have to call me that all the time.”

“But Uncle Alan said…”

“ _Uncle_ Alan? Oh, that boy is so dead.”

“Are you not my daddy, Daddy?”

“Okay, now I _know_ you’re doing this on purpose.”

“Doing what, Daddy?”

John sighed, collapsing into the chair.

“This is my life now. This is how it’s going to be. A sexualised rogue AI and four brothers intent on making my life hell,” he mumbled to himself.

“And Tanusha Kyrano, your lover and future mother of your children,” EOS added, trying to be helpful.

John threw his hands in the air in surrender, standing up and heading towards the door.

“That’s it, I’m out,” he sighed, heading back towards the hangar. “EOS, meet me on board the space elevator. I’ve got some thinking to do.”

*-*-*-*

Gordon watched Thunderbird 1 land with vested interested; Scott had been gone and out of contact for over a day, which was unusual in itself.

But what made it even more unusual was the conversation he’d had with Tycho’s head of security, a huge, burly guy named ‘Teddy’ who he’d managed to contact when he’d called the office, asking for an update.

 _Apparently_ , Scott had taken Tycho’s business manager to her home to ‘work’. If Gordon knew anything about Scott, ‘work’ was not something he often did when he was in the presence of women.

Bad flirting, yes. Working and staying professional? Well, let’s just say he struggled.

Not that he could blame the guy; I mean, they were all in the same boat when it came to relationships.

Living on an island far removed from society and doing the jobs they did, dating wasn’t easy.

Speaking of dating, he needed to call Penny. She’d left him a vague message insinuating he should contact her about their date. His stomach was already fluttering; he _really_ hoped she wasn’t getting cold feet.

It had taken him a lot of courage to ask her out, and to be honest, he’d never expected her to say yes. Whether it was out of pity or genuine interest, he couldn’t tell, but he couldn’t deny he was both terrified and excited at the prospect of finally having a date with her.

After the incident in the temple, the near kiss they’d shared, she’d been on his mind constantly.

He pulled out his comm, scrolling through the messages he’d sent and received from her. Her last one was from yesterday, and reading it made his stomach flip every time he went over the words:

“ _Looking forward to seeing you next week. Been thinking about you again this evening. Think you owe me some alone time. Hope it’s as good as I’m imagining._ ”

Gordon swallowed, hard. She’d actually been thinking about him, imagining what their date would be like, and possibly what would come after.

He physically shivered at the thought. It wasn’t like he’d hidden his attraction to her, at all. Gordon wasn’t the most subtle guy on the planet, by everyone seemed to find it endearing and he’d just embraced it. It was who he was, and they could live with it.

His confidence was something he’d worked hard on, and he’d be damned if he was going to give that up now.

Out of all of them, Jeff had worked the hardest to grind Gordon down into his idea of what he should be; he had been born a joker, always making people laugh and smile, pulling pranks and being inappropriate. He was the class clown in school, always popular and adored, but it had infuriated Jeff.

There had been more than one social occasion when Gordon had pulled pranks on people, even going as far as pulling a fire alarm, getting everyone outside and pelting them with water balloons at a summer fashion event. The aftermath of that had _not_ been enjoyable.

So every moment he had spare, Gordon was pushed into working, studying, attending etiquette classes. Whether or not he wanted to be, he _was_ going to be a shining example of the high society his family had attained. He was forced to present an image of himself that reflected who Jeff wanted him to be, always dragged aside and chastised when his personality began to slip out.

But Penny had always been different.

She had seen straight through the façade, so close to her own. No-one would believe how fun loving, adventurous and downright unladylike she had once been.

Like Gordon, she had an image to upkeep, and she’d been forced to fit into a mould. Maybe that’s what had drawn them together.

Gordon could still remember the moment his attraction to her had started.

It had been a balmy summer afternoon at the Creighton-Ward estate. He’d been no older than fifteen, still young and in the midst of Jeff’s re-shaping of him. Somehow, he’d managed to get into the champagne and had gotten a little tipsy, beginning to tell inappropriate jokes and anecdotes, much to Jeff’s disdain.

It had ended up with him being slapped around the face and sent up to one of the guest rooms to sober up, tears streaming down his face and full of shame.

Jeff had told him (while more than a little drunk himself) that he was a disgrace to the family name, that he was ashamed of him.

Penny had witnessed the whole thing, disgusted by the display and earning herself a slap from her own father for daring to question to actions of one of his guests in public.

So both her and Gordon had ended up in her bedroom, cold flannels pressed against their faces, leant into each other and letting the tears flow.

They’d never spoken about that day, even after they’d gone back down to the party, their masks back on and pretending like everything was okay, but it had stuck with Gordon. He remembered the tears on her eyelashes, the way they trickled down her rosy cheeks, the dimple on her chin as she’d offered him a reassuring smile, the softness of her hands as they brushed across his as she handed him the flannel.

But most of all, he remembered how she’d stood up for him and been punished for it. But instead of complaining, she’d taken it in her stride, found him and comforted him. She could have left him, kept to herself, but instead, she’d chosen to share her shame with him.

Since then, he’d seen her in a different light; caring, sweet, open, empathetic. And that adoration had, in time, turned to the attraction he felt now.

People had thought he was crazy. The term ‘punching above his weight’ had been thrown at him more times than he could count, the aching in his chest whenever he saw her never quite subsiding.

More than once, Jeff had told him that he should find someone who was ‘more his type’, a remark that had cut him deeper than his father could ever have known.

But through the years, Penny had never outright rejected him, never been rude or hurt him, and he had to wonder if she’d been told the opposite; that he was far below her and that she shouldn’t indulge him.

Penny was many things, but she was not cruel. She wouldn’t have led him on, dangling the possibility in front of him, only to snatch it away at the last moment. So the spark of hope remained, and now, with their date looming, it was beginning to smoulder.

“You look like you’re deep in thought,” Scott’s voice sounded from across the room, breaking his reverie. “Should we be worried?”

Gordon shook his head, coming back to reality. He wondered how long he’d been lost in thought if Scott had made it all the way back up to the lounge already.

“Naw, just thinking about random stuff,” he lied with a smile, his demeanour changing when he noticed Scott’s movements were a little stiff; he was almost limping. “What happened?” Gordon asked, taking a step towards him, “are you hurt? You’re walking funny.”

Scott’s face immediately went beetroot red, the heat coming off of him almost palpable. There was a look on his that Gordon had only ever seen once; the time he’d been caught with an entire pack of condoms by Jeff’s mandatory bag check on leaving the house for a sleepover at a ‘buddy’s’ house which had, in truth been a frat party. He’d been seventeen at the time and Jeff had gone ballistic, only calmed by Lucy who had insisted he sit Scott down and talk things through with him, then allow him to go.

It had caused a massive argument, but Lucy’s insistence that Jeff let Scott explore himself how he was on the path to becoming an adult had won out.

The look Scott had worn on his face then, the embarrassment and attempt to hide it all in one expression, was there now, and Gordon did _not_ miss it.

“Uh, yeah, slipped a little bit on the way back down the peak,” Scott mumbled, obviously nervous as he shuffled awkwardly, running a hand over the back of his neck, “you know, having to rescue those idiots from Everest. One of the guys was the same one from last year. Honestly, some people never learn,” he chuckled, his entire body tense as he tried to turn, heading towards the bedroom. “Anyway, I’m beat, gonna go get some sleep,” he smiled as he moved towards the stairs.

Gordon grinned wickedly.

“Wait! You’re not going to tell me how Virgil and Tycho’s ‘reunion’ went?”

Scott paused, turning back to face his brother with a sigh.

“It went fine, they were happy to see each other, pretty sure they did something I don’t want to know about in the board room while we weren’t there. Oh, and Virg bought like fifty million dollars’ worth of Tycho’s stock and saved his company from some asshole, you know, usual stuff.”

Gordon’s mouth dropped open.

“He did _what_?” he balked, eyes wide, “and you _let_ him?”

Scott shook his head sighing.

“Look, Gordo, it’s been a long day, I can explain in the morning.”

He was trying to get away, to escape the situation, and Gordon wasn’t having any of it.

“But that’s, like, huge!” he grinned, planning his next words carefully. “Oh, and we were a bit worried, so we called Tycho’s office and they said you weren’t there. So, I was just, you know, wondering,” he smirked, Scott’s face dropping as he sensed the change in his tone, “who’s Saz?”

If it was possible, Scott’s face grew even redder. He looked like he’d been laying in the sun for hours.

“Uh, she’s Tycho’s personal assistant… well, business manager, technically,” Scott half smiled, more than a little awkward.

“Oh, so why did you end up taking her home?” Gordon asked, moving down into the conversation pit and sitting down on the sofa, stretching out in the most casual way he could. But his expression was knowing, and Scott knew he was not going to be able to avoid this forever.

The brothers were all so in tune with each other, even the tiniest change was noticeable.

He sighed, relenting and moving down into the pit as well, trying to hide his discomfort.

“She, uh, was helping me with this statement we’re supposed to make about the whole Tycho in Russia situation. I’m, you know, not great with words so…”

“Sorry bro,” Gordon chuckled, “but going from the way you’re walking, there weren’t many _words_ involved.”

Scott flushed again, frowning at the younger man.

“So, did ya get some?”

“Gordon,” Scott warned, shaking his head.

“What?” the blonde protested, “I only want to know because I’m happy you’re finally getting some! It’s about damn time we all got a little happiness.”

Scott sighed, a shiver running through him as his brain replayed the experience.

“Yes,” he relented, knowing better than to lie to Gordon. He was far too perceptive.

“Ha! I knew it!” the younger man whooped, “so, do I get details?”

“You definitely do _not_ ,” Scott frowned.

“Aw, man, come on! You used to share everything!”

“ _Used to_ being the imperative.”

“Was it good? Did you only last thirty seconds? Are you embarrassed?”

“Shut up.”

“Did she suck you off? Did you _munch on her rug_ if you know what I mean? Was she kinky? Was she boring?”

“Gordon, shut up,” Scott growled, standing up again and only just holding back a yelp at the jolt of pain that ran through his backside.

Gordon’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, Scott feeling a sense of dread as he looked over his younger brother, the cogs in his head turning.

“Oh my god,” Gordon breathed, “is Saz a _dude_? You’ve been fucked!”

“Shut up!” Scott shouted, losing his patience. Gordon was far too pushy for his own good. But even Scott’s temper couldn’t put him off now.

“You _have_! Oh my god! This is fantastic! Wait, so if she’s definitely a girl… wait, Scott, did you get _pegged_?”

“How the… you know, I don’t even _want_ to know how you know what that is, but you need to stop.”

“You _did_!” Gordon squealed in delight, clutching at his stomach as he giggled to himself. “Oh, this is too much! The great Scott Tracy, pegged by his brother’s lover’s PA. Oh my god, this is just, wow!” he laughed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

Scott saw red, embarrassed at having his personal life laid so bare between them.

“Gordon, I swear to _fucking god_ , if you say _anything_ to anyone, I will fucking end you.”

The younger man froze for a second, the tone of Scott’s voice broaching no argument, but there was something more. Something in the tone that, for just a second, reminded him far too much of their father. It triggered a response in him, his smile immediately fading and his body tensing.

Scott sighed when he saw the reaction, feeling more than a little guilty.

“Look, Gordon,” he said, a lot calmer now as he approached his younger brother, feeling even worse when the younger man just stared ahead, trying to remind himself that this was _Scott_ , not their father; that he wasn’t going to get shouted at and berated for daring to make a joke.

“I… this is just really new and personal and I… I just don’t want everyone knowing. You know what they’re like. You’re just far too perceptive. It’s annoying, really.”

Gordon breathed out a shaky breath, coming back to himself as he looked up at Scott, eyes uncertain.

“I didn’t… It’s not bad,” he murmured, tone flat and sad now. “I’m happy for you. Whatever it is you like, whatever you want, I’m glad you’ve found… I’m sorry. I’ll shut up,” he said, shaking his head and moving to stand. “I’ll just be in my room, not bothering anyone and being quiet until you need me.”

Scott kicked himself mentally.

It was easy to forget just how fragile Gordon really was; for all the bluster he put up, the damage done to him by their dad was still present, and every so often, it would come out like this.

“Gordon,” he called softly, trying to stop him.

“No, it’s fine,” the blonde forced a smile as he padded towards the stairs, “you’re all right. Dad was right. I push things too far, I invade people’s personal lives. I shouldn’t do it. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just want to… I want to know you’re all happy and… I’m gonna go.”

“Gordon, don’t,” Scott urged him, feeling like a total asshole as he watched Gordon disappear up the stairs. “Fuck,” he whispered to himself, sitting carefully back onto the sofa where his brother had been sat moments before and burying his head in his hands.

Why did things have to be so complicated?

*-*-*-*

Gordon was fighting back tears by the time he made it to his room.

He felt stupid, ashamed of his actions. Why did everything have to be a joke? Why couldn’t he just have a single adult conversation? He wanted nothing more than to turn back time, to not make a joke of Scott’s activities.

Slamming his door behind him, he threw himself onto his bed, feeling like a pathetic teenager again as the tears finally spilled over his eyes, sobs wracking his body.

What the hell was wrong with him? All of his brothers, even Alan, seemed to have their shit together. They were all amazing at what they did, and Gordon was just left feeling mediocre, like he was only just scraping by. If this was a job, rather than a family responsibility, he often thought he would be in performance review by now.

He was childish and irresponsible and annoying and he had no idea why anyone else put up with him.

A knock on the door bought him out of his self-loathing cycle. Gordon buried his head further into his pillows.

“Go away Scott,” he shouted, “I need some time.”

Another knock.

“I said go away!” he all but screamed, pressing his face into the pillow in front of him.

He knew he was being childish, but right now, he didn’t care. He just wanted some time to wallow in self-pity, was that too much to ask?

The click of his door opening turned the self-loathing to anger as he sat up, turning and shouting the door.

“What the hell is your problem?”

His eyes widened as they fell on, not Scott but John, in his space suit and holding a satchel of belongings from his room. He had a rather shocked look on his face as he regarded his younger brother,

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Gordon’s resolve crumbled, fresh tears streaking down his face as he curled into himself, unable to formulate a response.

John watched him with sympathetic eyes; for Gordon to be this low, something bad must have happened. He placed his satchel onto the floor and shuffled over to his younger brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he sat down on the bed next to him.

He almost expected the aquanaut to pull away, to resist his offer of comfort, which made it all the more surprising when he, instead, leant into John, sobbing into his chest.

“I’m a fuck up,” he sniffed, hugging John’s waist.

“Aren’t we all?” John responded gently, running his hand up and down Gordon’s arm. “So what’s happened?”

“I’m an idiot, I can’t take anything seriously.”

John frowned.

“Has Scott said something?”

“No,” Gordon said quickly, “I just… I want to be like you guys, all responsible and mature and shit but I… It just feels so… That’s not me. Maybe I shouldn’t be here. Maybe you guys would be better off without me.”

John pulled back, shocked.

“Don’t you dare say things like that,” he chastised him, concerned when Gordon didn’t look at him. “Hey, look at me. Gordon.”

The younger man slowly raised his gaze to look at his older brother, the difference between them hitting him more than ever as teal green eyes met caramel brown.

“You are valued and loved. Without you, we wouldn’t have gotten through some of the toughest rescues we’ve ever been on. You make split second decisions without prompting, you think on your feet and you’re dependable. Don’t you ever, _ever_ think that you are anything other than an amazing, special, needed person.”

“But I’m so annoying, everyone always says it,” Gordon whined, tears still creeping over his eyelids, “I make everything a joke, I…”

“You always get the job done, and it’s your job to be annoying. You’re a little brother,” John reasoned, pulling him close again. “Besides, we’d never want you to change. You’re perfect how you are.”

“But Dad used to…”

“Dad was wrong,” John snapped, drawing Gordon’s full attention, “about a lot of things. You in particular. He never saw just how amazing you are in the field, how you keep people calm by joking, how you keep us grounded just by being you. Don’t dwell on what he said, because he was so wrong about you.”

“But…”

“No buts. You don’t put yourself down, ever. You hear me?”

“But…”

“What did I just say?”

“You’re wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.”

“You’re also _so_ humble.”

“See, there’s the Gordon we know and love,” John grinned, pulling back to look at his brother, his eyes fond and soft. “You’re special, Gordo. More special than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“You’re biased,” Gordon sniffed, pulling away from John’s embrace to wipe at his face.

“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Thanks, John. You’re the best.”

“Now who’s biased?”

“I’m allowed to be,” John smiled, giving him one last squeeze. “Now, are you going to tell me what happened or not?”

Gordon hesitated, contemplating his options. It wouldn’t be right of him to lay Scott bare without his permission, but…

His comm ringing suddenly cut through his thoughts, the telltale pink ring of Penny calling him glowing from it. John shot him a knowing look.

“I’ll leave you to get that,” he grinned, “but this conversation isn’t over.”

“Gotcha,” Gordon smiled back, answering his comm as John slipped back out the door into the hallway, shutting it gently behind him.

“Hey, Penny,” he greeted as her holographic form flickered to life in front of him. Even in this form, she looked stunning. A gentle blush rose to his cheeks as she smiled at his voice.

“Hello, Gordon, dear. I… Oh, Gordon, what on earth is the matter?” she asked gently, her tone soft as her face crumpled in concern. “Have you been crying?”

Gordon flushed again, feeling a little ashamed.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “family stuff, you know how it is.”

Penny frowned, shaking her head in frustration.

“Is it Scott again?” she asked sternly. “I have more than a few words for that man.”

Gordon chuckled, shaking his head in return.

“No, it’s all good. It’s handled. Just me… over reacting.”

Penny raised an eyebrow.

“Overreacting?” she asked, her voice growing more concerned, “Gordon, you’re not sounding like yourself at all. Are you sure everything is okay? Do you need me to come to you? Or you can come here? Oh, sweetheart, I hate seeing you like this.”

“Please don’t worry,” Gordon assured her, feeling embarrassed. “I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about me.”

“Well somebody has to,” she protested with a frown. “Fine,” she sighed reluctantly, “I’ll trust you to handle it yourself. I apologise for being so overbearing.”

“Don’t,” Gordon urged her, “it’s endearing, really.”

Penny huffed, a little indignantly, but there was a smile on her lips as she regarded him with an affectionate gaze.

“I was only calling to make sure you’re still on for our date this coming weekend,” she smiled sweetly, her eyes lighting up at just the mention of it.

Gordon’s stomach fluttered at the thought, his mind going into overdrive as he thought about the possibilities of the evening that would follow the date.

“Like I would miss it,” he grinned, “I’ve… I’ve been thinking about it like, a lot,” he admitted.

“Have you now?” she smiled softly at him, her eyes darkening a little as she regarded him with something that could only be described as hunger. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t as well. This has been… I’ve thought about it for…” a doorbell rang in the background of her call. “Oh, darn it, that’ll be Great Aunt Sylvia here for tea,” she sighed, “I promised her I would catch up with her. Always early, the dear. So you are still coming then?”

“Sure am,” Gordon grinned, “sent my measurements for the tux to that guy you recommended in Melbourne a week ago, so it should be ready just in time.”

“Fabulous,” Penny smiled, a sigh on her lips as she looked up. “Now, I really must dash, but I’ll be sending details of the party over soon. Is Scott getting you here or do you want me to send Parker to pick you up?”

Gordon flushed.

“I’ll… I’ll talk to him. I’ll get there, one way or another. I hope you have a nice afternoon. Enjoy your tea!”

“Morning, dear,” she corrected him, “and I will. I…” she hesitated, biting her lip a little. “I’ll speak to you later, Gordon.”

“Bye, Penny,” he breathed, words left unspoken by both of them. He sighed as her comm line dropped, laying back in the bed and holding the comm close to his chest.

The weekend couldn’t come soon enough.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's at the door?

“Kayo? What the hell!” Virgil demanded as he pulled on his shirt.

The moment the doorbell had rung and Tycho had pulled on his robe to go and answer it, Virgil had started pulling his clothes back on, a sense of dread settling over his stomach as his comm had fallen out of his jeans pocket; he hadn’t checked in in a couple of days, and he could almost guess who was at the door.

His suspicions were confirmed when the bedroom door swung open, revealing him in a state of toplessness, having just managed to jet his jeans back on in time.

“You didn’t answer your comm,” Kayo said flatly, eyeing him. “I told you, if you didn’t answer, I’d be here.”

“I’ve been busy, alright?” Virgil hissed, looking behind her. “What have you done with Tycho?”

“He’s gone to make tea,” she smiled sweetly. “Care to explain why he’s grinning like the cat that got the cream? Did I interrupt something?” Her voice was a jovial whisper by the end of the question.

But instead of getting Virgil’s usual grin and chuckle, she got a glare. It took her aback a little.

“Yeah, you did, actually,” Virgil huffed. He’d been looking forward to post-coital cuddles with his lover, not dealing with the woman who could be considered his little sister in both closeness and annoyance level.

“Oh,” Kayo’s eyes went wide, recognising that this was different. “Oh, V, I’m… I was seriously worried, though. You haven’t been picking up, not even a message, apart from one from Tycho, and… you know how I get.”

“I was actually having a nice time,” Virgil huffed at her again, “actually forgetting about things for a while. Thanks for dragging me back to reality.”

“Now you’re just being a whiny bitch.”

“Fuck you.”

“I would say fuck yourself but it seems like Tycho’s beaten me to it.”

Virgil growled, turning a bit too sharply to stare at Kayo, letting out a yelp as his knee slipped a little, sending him toppling back onto the bed.

“Virg, are you okay?” she asked, at his side in an instant.

“No, I’m not okay,” he hissed, sitting up and stretching his leg out, a sickening click coming from it as it slipped back into place. Kayo winced at the noise.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was worried about you.”

“Well you can see I’m fine, so you can go,” Virgil snapped.

Kayo glared at him.

“If _you’d_ followed security procedure…”

“If _you’d_ not set such a strict fucking routine, treating us like fucking kids every time we get more than a few miles off of the island…”

“I’m the head of security, what do you expect?” Kayo snapped back at him, putting her hands on her hips.

“For you not to act like our fucking mom,” he replied bluntly, “now why don’t you just leave us alone and go back to fucking John?”

Kayo’s face went right red, eyes narrowing on Virgil.

“How do you know about that?” she asked, voice quiet and level.

Virgil’s face dropped suddenly, regretting his words.

“Kay,” he shook his head at himself and sighed; he didn’t usually squabble her like this. They were as close as two people could be, and he felt guilty about snapping at her, no matter the situation. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Who saw us?” she asked, cutting him off.

Virgil sighed again.

“Gordon did. He hasn’t told anyone, before you ask, only me. He wasn’t sure what to do.”

“Shit,” Kayo sighed, shoulders slumping as she made her way over to the bed and sat down next to him, looking at her feet.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil repeated, feeling guilty now. “I overreacted, I…”

“You’re don’t care that I’m sleeping with John?” Kayo asked suddenly, looking at him wide eyed.

Virgil swallowed, unsure as to whether or not he should intervene in this.

“I mean… It’s your life, and, you know, his,” he reasoned, “If you two are happy…”

“You’re not going to tell me that it’s a bad idea, or that we’ll rip apart the organisation or…”

“I’m not Scott,” Virgil shrugged. “If you want a telling off, you might want to tell him.”

“Oh,” Kayo said, a little dumbly. “I thought… I don’t know what I thought, but I didn’t think you’d be so… accepting.”

“It is a little weird,” Virgil admitted with a wry smile. “I mean, I never saw John as… like that. But if you guys are happy…”

“I…” Kayo cut him off, biting her lip as she hesitated. “I have no idea what’s going on, to be honest,” she sighed. “I… feel like I’ve fucked up.”

Virgil regarded her with a fond look as she covered her face with her hands, bent double as she leant over the side of the bed now.

He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Kay, it’s alright. Whatever this is, I know you guys will work it out. You and John are the best of us, and I know neither of you would ever hurt the other on purpose. I can only tell you to take it easy and be careful.”

“Like you?” Kayo smiled a little, peeking out from behind her fingers.

Virgil held back a bark of laughter; yeah, currently in the house of his lover of a few weeks who he’d declared his love for and flown half way around the world at a moment’s notice for, not to mention the amount of money he’d spent saving his company. He really couldn’t say anything.

“Do as I say, not as I do?” he tried, grinning at her. She elbowed him in the ribs, drawing a loud ‘oof’ from him.

“Kayo, do you take sugar, only I…”

Tycho paused at the door as he entered with a tray of filled mugs, regarding them for a second.

Virgil watched a flash of uncertainty cross his features as he looked between them, Virgil’s arm around Kayo’s shoulders, her head leant against his chest.

“No, I don’t,” she answered with a soft smile, looking over Tycho’s state of undress as she pulled away from Virgil, moving to stand, “and thank you for the offer, but I should leave you two alone. I’m sorry for intruding. Just…” she looked to Virgil sternly, “Next time, answer you damn comm, okay?”

“Yes, mom,” Virgil teased, rolling his eyes.

“You’re leaving already?” Tycho asked, perplexed, “but…”

“I was only checking in,” she explained. “I keep tabs on everyone when they’re off island. Security protocol after Virgil’s last… incident.”

“Incident?” Tycho asked, looking at his lover, a puzzled expression on his face.

Virgil blushed bright red.

“A few years ago, I may have got trapped on a half built bridge by some not-so-nice people,” he admitted, sheepishly, “in the middle of the desert… in the blazing sun… for six and half hours… with a motion bomb at my feet…”

Tycho’s mouth dropped open.

“You… what?” he practically screeched, a look of pure horror on his face.

“My work here is done,” Kayo grinned as Virgil scowled at her. “Wouldn’t have happened if you’d checked in!” she reminded him in a sing-song voice as she left the room, waving casually behind her. “Bye Tycho!”

“Bye,” he called back, eyes fixed on Virgil.

The front door slammed, leaving them both alone again.

“Is… Is that true?” Tycho asked, face still horrified.

Virgil nodded slowly, gauging his reaction.

“Yeah,” he admitted slowly. “It was a long time ago and… hey, I’m here, right?”

“But… what happened?” Tycho asked, still aghast as he put the tray of drinks on the top of the chest of drawers by the bedroom door, moving over to the bed and taking a seat next to Virgil, who turned to him fondly, his hand reaching out automatically. Tycho took it in both of his and clutched at it.

“I, uh, was on some time off,” Virgil explained, measuring his words carefully; the experience hadn’t been great, and he wanted to reassure Tycho, but he knew if he skimped too much, he’d know, “and was driving this _awesome_ car through the desert when… there were people out to hurt us, for a long time and, they found me. Made me think I was helping someone who was in danger, and you know me, can’t resist a bit of glory,” he chuckled to himself. Tycho’s expression was still stoic, hanging on his every word.

Virgil cleared his throat before he continued.

“But anyway, they got me on this bridge, this half built monstrosity and then I realise there’s no-one there, and they’re making off with my car and then suddenly, I hear this beeping and…” he shuddered a little at the memory. It _really_ hadn’t been pleasant. “There was a motion bomb, strapped to the bottom of the beam I was stood on. If I’d moved, slipped off or fallen off when I passed out, it would have exploded.”

“Fucking hell,” Tycho breathed, in a state of disbelief. “So what happened?”

“I baked in the sun for about six hours playing musical statues,” Virgil chuckled again, trying to keep the mood light. “When I didn’t check in, Scott figured there was something wrong, they tracked me to the bridge and managed to trick the bomb for a short window of time to get me out of there. Damn thing blew up about five minutes after that, anyway. So a bit of good timing on their parts. Was a bit of a lucky escape, if I’m honest.”

“Oh my god,” Tycho whispered, gazing at his lover with a mix of awe, astonishment and terror. “That sounds… awful, just awful! You…” he bought his hand up to Virgil’s face, cupping it gently. “You must have been so scared! That… it’s just so awful!”

A lump formed in Virgil’s throat.

After that incident, everyone had been sympathetic, sure, but he’d never really dealt with what he was feeling.

That was the problem with usually being so open with everyone around him; when he did clam up, no-one expected it, and never knew how to react.

“Yeah,” he admitted, voice cracking a bit as emotion swelled in him. “It was… it was pretty scary.”

“Pretty scary?” Tycho repeated, taken aback. “If that had been me, I… I don’t think I would have lasted. _Six hours_ in the sun? You… oh my god, Virgil, I, I don’t know what to say,” Tycho breathed, swiping a thumb across his cheek.

Tears welled in Virgil’s eyes, the lump in his throat growing.

“It was… I thought I was going to die,” Virgil admitted. “I just wanted to pull out my comm and tell everyone I knew, everyone I cared about how much I loved them but, I knew, if I moved, I was dead. I…”

He felt a tear tracking down his cheek, Tycho’s thumb swiping it away in an instant.

“I just kind of, accepted it,” he murmured, voice becoming thick with emotion. A sob escaped him, his body fighting to hold in the others. “I didn’t think I… I kept thinking of Gordon and Alan, what they’d do without me there to pilot 2, I kept thinking of all of them, of Grandma and… I was so scared.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tycho reassured him, shuffling closer, to where Kayo had been and pulling their bodies together, “you can let go.”

The words tipped Virgil over the edge, his body finally giving in and letting the sobs escaped him.

Years of pent up fear, anger, frustration and hurt poured out as he pressed his face into his lover’s chest, letting it all out.

He was already emotionally fragile from their encounter, and it was just enough to break him, even just for a moment.

Tycho, for his part, simply help the larger man, threading his fingers through his hair and whispering soothing words to him. He waited until all of his tears had been shed, until he was sniffing and clutching at him once more.

“Thank you,” Virgil whispered into his chest. “I’ve never… I’ve never really talked about it with anyone before. It’s been… I think it’s been inside me for so long, I never realised how much I was holding onto.”

“I’m always gonna be here for you to talk to. If you just need me to listen, I will,” Tycho murmured into his hair, planting soft kisses. “You mean… you’re so precious to me, V. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Virgil replied, a smile on his lips as he pulled back, looking at his lover.

They exchanged a look of pure affection before he closed the gap between them, capturing Tycho’s lips in a soft, delicate kiss.

The inventor moaned into it, his hands clutching at Virgil’s back.

They just sat with each other, kissing for a while, just enjoying the feel of their lips connected, tongue slipping out to slide against one another. Tycho pulled away after a moment, looking at his lover with utter adoration.

“How are you feeling, by the way?” he gestured to Virgil’s body.

The pilot smiled, getting his meaning.

“A bit sore,” he admitted, “but I’m… it was good. Really. I… I want it again, at some point.”

“I’d like that,” Tycho grinned, leaning back in to peck him on the cheek, “but I _really_ want to get those interrupted snuggles in.”

Virgil smiled back at him fondly.

“Oh, I’m down for snuggles,” he chuckled, grabbing Tycho and leaning back onto the bed.

The smaller man let out a giggle as he let himself be dragged on top of the pilot, careful to avoid his bad knee as he straddled him.

His lips sought out Virgil’s again as he settled on top of him, robe falling loose to reveal his still naked state.

A rush of arousal ran through Virgil as his hands went to Tycho’s shoulders, pushing him back up to sit and reaching for the belt of the robe, pulling it loose and revealing the pale expanse of Tycho’s naked skin.

The older man let out a groan, shirking the robe from his shoulders, leaving him completely bare again.

“You’re wearing far too many clothes,” he protested as his hands fell to Virgil’s jeans, fiddling with the button.

“I agree,” the pilot grinned.

Tycho smiled down on him, pausing in his actions for a sec.

“I… I just need to ask, because if I don’t, it’ll play on my mind,” he said quietly, hands moving to rest on Virgil’s clothed stomach. Virgil nodded, encouraging him to continue.

Tycho swallowed.

“You and Kayo… was there ever… were you…” he couldn’t find the confidence to finish the question, but Virgil understood. He sighed, shaking his head as a soft smile crossed his lips.

“No,” he said firmly. “She’s… she’s like a sister to me. We’re close, but I’ve never… I knew what I was from a young age. I’ve never been that, and she’s always respected it.”

Tycho nodded, unable to bring his eyes up to meet Virgil’s. He felt stupid, like he’d done something wrong.

“Is this because you saw me cuddling her?” Virgil asked, his hands running up and down Tycho’s sides. The inventor shivered at the touch as he nodded his reply.

Virgil sighed again, slipping one hand up to Tycho’s chin and tilting it up, trying to meet his gaze.

“Look at me, Ty,” he urged him. The smaller man complied, eyelids fluttering as their gaze met again. The inventors eyes were cloudy with self-doubt, past hurt still marring his present.

Virgil pulled him forward by his chin, Tycho pressing their chests together as he allowed himself to be led. He let out a shuddering moan when Virgil’s lips brushed across his, the kiss full of warmth and affection.

“You are the only one for me now,” Virgil breathed into the kiss, hand slipping to the back of Tycho’s head and holding him close as he pressed their foreheads together. “I don’t want anyone, not guys from the gym, not Kayo, not anyone else. Just you. This is it, Tycho. You’re stuck with me.”

The inventor let out a soft chuckle, his eyes shining a little.

“Well it’s not like I can complain. And besides, _you’re_ stuck with _me_ , so who’s the real loser here?”

Virgil laughed, bringing their lips back together, kissing Tycho passionately now, trying to portray his affection, his adoration and his love through the simple action.

“Come on, let’s get you naked again,” Tycho murmured into the kiss. “I need your skin on mine.”

Virgil groaned as his lover sat up again, moving to shift off of him.

“Sounds like a plan,” he grinned.

*-*-*-*

They’d fallen asleep in each-other’s arms, skin on skin and cuddled up tightly once Virgil had undressed with Tycho’s help.

A few hours had passed, both resting, recovering from their encounter, but Virgil was the first to wake, or rather, be woken by the sound of the doorbell.

The noise didn’t seem to rouse Tycho, so he slipped out of bed and put on his robe, hobbling to the door and finding a delivery man with a huge box waiting for him.

He signed for the box, unthinking, before he closed the door, only noticing when he’d done so that the package was addressed to _him_.

Tilting his head in curiosity, he looked to the bedroom door, feeling almost guilty as he shifted the package as best he could.

Frustrated with the lack of progress after a couple of minutes, he grabbed his crutch from the side and began pushing the box with his good knee over to the middle of the room.

It was heavy, and that fact only spurred his curiosity further.

Still feeling guilty despite the fact his name was on the box, he pressed the unlock mechanism on the packaging, the box sliding open to reveal its contents.

His heart swelled as he looked at what was inside; an easel, at least 6 packs of various paints, watercolours, oils and acrylics as well as a few mixing boards and three huge canvas pieces.

Near the bottom of the box, there were several sets of high end brushes, along with a note which he bent down to pick up, reading it closely.

‘ _Virgil, I’m probably going to be too shy to say this to your face, but I want you to have these art supplies. I love your painting and want you to be able to indulge in hobbies while you’re here. I really hope you’ll be staying more often, so I want this to be a home-from-home for you. All my love, Ty. XX’_

Virgil felt a huge smile cross his face as he looked over the supplies, an idea coming to mind immediately.

Looking to the huge window, now with the blinds drawn, he remembered the view that Tycho had shown him before. He looked at the digital clock display on the wall; it was 3pm now. If he got a basic outline done, he’d be ready to capture the details of the sunset soon enough.

Nodding to himself as he made up his mind, he began unpackaging the easel, excitement coursing through him.

It would be the first time he’d painted for someone other than himself in a long time.

*-*-*-*

“Mmm, Virg?” Tycho mumbled, reaching out a hand to feel for his lover, finding nothing but cold, empty sheets.

He sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake as he processed his room. Virgil wasn’t here.

A jolt of fear ran through him, reason following soon after.

He’d probably just got up for a snack or something.

Jumping up out of bed, Tycho blinked away the last of the sleep in his eyes, grabbing his robe from the bottom of the bed and slipping it back onto his body, tying the belt tight as he headed from the bedroom into the lounge.

The sight that greeted him bought a huge smile to his face; Virgil was completely naked, save his spare knee brace, and he was stood in front of the window with his easel set up, painting away.

He seemed so engrossed that he didn’t even notice Tycho approach him from behind.

The inventor just stood and watched for a while, transfixed as Virgil’s body moved.

Hi back muscles flexed as tensed as he moved in broad strokes across the canvas. The skyline of the vista out of the window was already outlined, now he was focusing on the dusky pink sky, blue clouds swirling in the sky, lined with gold and white.

It was a beautiful evening sky, one of the most stunning Tycho had seen; perfect for the painting.

He bit his lip as he watched Virgil work, eyes moving to his ass as he shifted on the spot. It was so perfect, round and firm.

Memories of the feeling of being inside him, of fucking him, taking him for the first time flooded through his mind, his cock stirring under his robe.

He wanted him again, already, but he would never push. They were both still new to it, but it was addicting, and his body ached to be filled almost as much. He almost couldn’t decide what he liked more, fucking him or being fucked, but there was something about the way Virgil pinned him down, opened him and fucked him so tenderly that made him lean towards the latter.

Feeling Tycho’s gaze on him, Virgil turned to look, jumping at little at his presence.

“Fuck, Ty, you scared me!” he said, placing a hand on his chest. Tycho grinned at him, raising his eyebrows.

“Sorry,” he smirked, unashamed as his eyes flickered down to Virgil’s cock. The pilot flushed bright red, looking around for his robe.

“Oh, I, uh… Sorry,” he murmured. “Painting makes me feel so free, I… I didn’t think…”

“Don’t you dare put that robe on,” Tycho purred, moving towards him.

Virgil flushed a little, looking for a suitable place to put his paint board and brush down as Tycho approached.

The slimmer man had had every intention of going straight for Virgil, getting his hands on him once again, but as his gaze caught the painting he’d been working on, his mind faltered, taking in all the tiny details Virgil had sketched in, ready to be painted over.

“Do… do you like it?” Virgil asked, a little cautiously. He had been so nervous about the painting, working hard to capture every detail, every swirl in the clouds, every ray of light as it shone through.

Tycho just stared at his, his eyes flickering over the detailed sky Virgil had captured, utterly amazed.

“Like it?” he breathed, in complete awe. “Virg, this is… I’ve never seen something so beautiful,” he admitted, stepping closer to admire his work. “The way you’ve captured the sky, the, the clouds, look at them!” he said, voice full of glee. “How did you… this is like… it’s like a painting… It’s so vivid!”

Realising he was rambling a little, he turned to Virgil with a soft flush on his face, grinning when he saw that Virgil was bright red, obviously not used to this much praise.

“It’s really amazing,” he reassured him as he stepped closer to his larger lover, his hands moving up to cup his face. “ _You’re_ amazing and… this is…” he looked out over the skyline, sighing as he pressed his head against Virgil’s chest. “This is perfect.”

Virgil nodded, wrapping his arms around Tycho’s body, pulling him close as he dropped a kiss on his head.

“It is,” he smiled, pulling back to kiss Tycho gently. “Do you, uh,” he flushed again, running a hand over the back of his head, “do you want to watch me paint some more? Only, I want to get this finished before the sun sets.”

Tycho nodded, moving to grab a chair and settle himself down, an odd thrill running through him as the intimacy of the situation hit him.

“Can… will you keep the robe off?” Tycho asked softly, a sly grin on his face.

Virgil rolled his eyes and nodded, chuckling as he went to pick up his paint board once again.

“For you babe, anything,” he grinned, shuffling carefully back towards the easel to continue his work as Tycho pulled his chair over and settled in to watch his lover work his magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break guys, working hard on the story line and adding bits here and there!
> 
> Work is also manic, and playing catch up :P
> 
> Also blame Lexibirds as I have fallen madly in love with her and keep practising writing with her. Y'all should all go check out her work! <3


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tycho has an unexpected visitor...

“Tycho, fuck!” Virgil moaned, his hands on his lover’s hips as the inventor rode him, all grace and sinew and raw passion as his movements slowed, eyes closed and his head thrown back.

 

The smaller man get out a gasp, Virgil’s cock brushing his spot and sending his mind reeling with pleasure, unable to string together coherent thoughts.

 

He’d lasted all of around 15 minutes of watching Virgil paint, the play of his muscles and bare body too much to bear before he’d stripped down himself, pulling out his stashed bottle of lube from the robe pocket and opening himself up.

 

It was only when a moan escaped his lips that Virgil turned, seeing what he was doing and abandoning his painting in favour of laying on the sofa and having his lover climb on top of him.

 

“You’re so gorgeous,” Virgil praised him, running his hands up his sides, encouraging his movements.

 

Tycho groaned in response, wishing he could be more eloquent.

 

But as Virgil bucked his hips, hitting his spot dead on, he was completely lost, his orgasm rushing over him like a tidal wave.

 

They both moaned in unison, Tycho’s body tightening around Virgil, milking him of everything he had to offer.

 

“Ty, fuck, I love you,” Virgil whispered as he came, the words easy now, still holding the emotion but natural.

 

“L-love you,” Tycho grunted, his body still going wild.

 

A clicking noise suddenly caught both of their attention as they panted together, riding out their orgasms.

 

It got louder, the sound of a key being fitted into a lock now clearly echoing across the apartment.

 

“Shit!” Tycho yelped, pulling himself off of Virgil and throwing himself onto the floor.

 

The pilot looked at him, bemused.

 

“Ty?” he asked, suddenly turning as he heard the door open, a panicked look on his face when he turned back to his lover.

 

“Ty, love, please tell me ya in,” a broad accent, similar to Tycho’s but stronger and female rang through the apartment.

 

“Ami?” Tycho asked from the floor, confused.

 

“Where are ya?” she asked, taking a step forward. A soft snuffling distracted her for a moment, her advance stopping. “Hey, bab, don’t start,” she cooed.

 

Virgil gestured to Ty, trying to ask what was happening as he still panted, chest heaving and body aching to have him back in his arms.

 

“Ami, you could have told me you were coming!” Tycho squeaked, reaching for his robe and trying to pull it on without revealing himself. He threw Virgil’s at him, gesturing for him to do the same.

 

The pilot did so with a little difficulty, watching, a little fearful as Tycho pulled his robe tightly around him, standing and revealing himself to the woman.

 

“Well you said I was always welcome,” she protested, putting her hands on her hips, “and what are you doing half nekkid anyway?”

 

Tycho flushed furiously, trying to think of an excuse.

 

Virgil saved him the trouble, sitting up and revealing himself on the sofa.

 

He waved awkwardly, flushing a little as well.

 

“Hi,” he offered, not missing how Tycho ran a hand over his face.

 

“Ty, who…”

 

“Amelie, meet Virgil Tracy, my… my boyfriend,” he smiled, despite his hesitation. “Virgil, this is Amelie Tern, my twin sister.”

 

Ami’s face turned sour, her expression managing to be concerned and angry at the same time as she looked Virgil over, noting his similarly naked form, her brain putting two and two together.

 

“You could have told me you’d got company, Ty. I might have given ya more warnin.”

 

Tycho shook his head, sensing something was wrong but still annoyed at her intrusion.

 

“ _ You _ could have given me some warning you were coming!” he argued, exasperated. “Damn it, Ami, you know I love you, but you can’t just come barging in at a moment’s notice and…”

 

His words faded as he looked to the travel seat by her feet, his heart swelling a little.

 

“Is… is that?”

 

“Your nephew? Yes,” she nodded, a smile twitching as her lips again. “Needed a break from… ya know what, this can wait, I can go or…”

 

“Please don’t leave on my account,” Virgil offered, eyes shining with excitement as he looked over to the baby, taking in his adorable fuzz of dark brown hair. “Honestly, I can go for a bit, go sightseeing or grab a bite to eat if you guys want to catch up,” he smiled softly, looking to Tycho.

 

“No, you’re my guest,” he said, shaking his head, “Ami, I… I’m so happy to see you, I really am, but this is really terrible timing, we…”

 

“You’re the one from International Rescue, aren’t ya?” Ami asked sharply, eyes boring into Virgil’s now. “The one who put Ty in danger.”

 

There was an edge to her voice now that made Virgil’s chest clench, fear shooting through him.

 

“I…” he began, cut off by Tycho.

 

“He did  _ not _ put me in danger, Ami. I’m an adult, capable of making my own decisions.”

 

The woman let out a bark of laughter, so similar to Tycho’s that it made Virgil’s heart jump a little.

 

“Ty, there’s many things you are, adult ain’t one of them,” she chuckled lowly, her gaze dropping to the baby seat as the child inside began to stir, sniffling a little.

 

Tycho didn’t miss the way Virgil leant forward, getting a better look of the child. His expression was soft, interesting and empathetic, and it made Tycho’s stomach flip in a way he hadn’t felt before.

 

“He hungry?” Virgil asked softly, Ami looking up at him in surprise.

 

“Yeah,” she replied slowly, “been his longest trip yet and… how did you know?”

 

“Four brothers,” Virgil shrugged easily, watching as Ami bent down, opening up the large bag she had placed next to her feet, a rainbow coloured thing and withdrew a fresh nappy and some wipes.

 

“You got somewhere I can change him, Ty? It’s been a fair trip. And put some clothes on, for fu-, for christs sake!”

 

Tycho grinned.

 

“You watching your language, A? First time for everything.”

 

“Fuck you,” she retorted without thinking, immediately blushing, eyes darting over Virgil as she looked for any signs of judgement. “I need to change him, like, now, so…”

 

“Use the table,” Tycho said, nodding the kitchen, “not like we use it for eating anyway.”

 

“I bet you don’t,” Ami grinned, moving into the kitchen.

 

“Right, ah, Virg, we should, ya know,  _ get dressed _ ,” Tycho hissed, Virgil captivated by the child in the car seat as Ami carried him over to the table.

 

“Oh, uh, yeah, right,” he nodded as Tycho nudged him, “good idea. Sorry.”

 

“Don’t be sorry,” Ami said, tone a little sharp as she looked him over again, “just a bit weird, guys with kids. Not used to them actually taking an interest.”

 

Tycho stepped forward, opening his mouth as if to speak and closing it again, thinking better of his words.

 

“Come on, babe. Ami, we’ll be back in a tic, make yourself at home.”

 

“Always do,” she smiled sadly, unclipping the baby from his car seat.

 

Tycho ushered Virgil into the bedroom, blushing the whole time.

 

The moment the door was closed, he leant against it, taking a deep breath, hazel eyes flickering over Virgil’s form, looking for any sign of anything being wrong.

 

“I am,  _ so _ sorry for my sister,” he breathed, shaking his head. “She’s… I had no idea that she…”

 

Virgil took a step forward, wrapping his arms around his lover, soothing him.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s fine!” he reassured him, dropping a kiss to his head, “really, family comes first, I get that, better than anyone!”

 

Tycho nodded, chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully. Even though he hadn’t known him that long, Virgil recognised it as a sign of something eating at him.

 

“Everything okay, babe?”

 

“What? Oh, yes, yes,” Tycho replied far too quickly, forcing a smile, “everything is…”

 

He paused, looking at Virgil as he raised an eyebrow, seeing through the facade easily.

 

“Fine,” Tycho sighed, “damn you and your beautiful fucking knowing eyes.”

 

Virgil grinned as he pulled Tycho closer, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

 

“Come on, spill,” he chuckled, beginning to root around for his clothes.

 

Tycho sighed again, sitting on the bed as he watched his lover get dressed with mournful eyes, wishing he could drag him over his body and have him again, that they were still alone.

 

“Ami is… well, you’ve met her, briefly. She’s headstrong, an amazing woman. She’s done so much with her life, but… the one area she  _ tends _ to fall down in is that she dates, and always has dated… oh, how do I put this?” he mused, tapping his finger on his chin, “losers.”

 

Virgil let out a snort of laughter, unable to stop himself.

 

Tycho grinned back, entertained by his response.

 

“Glad you don’t think I’m a right cock for saying that,” he admitted sheepishly, “but it’s damn true. And Glenn, the newest one, ugh.”

 

Tycho gave a dramatic shudder, shaking his head.

 

“Biggest douche award?” Virgil asked playfully, pulling his jeans over his hips and fiddling with his belt.

 

“That’s one way of putting it,” Tycho sighed. “He’s… imagine the biggest loser you can find, give him money, status, take away all motivation and throw in a good dose of ‘do you know who I am-ism’s’ and you’re close to what he’s like. He’s old money, dad’s a car manufacturer or something, so he’s never had to work a day in his life, and it shows.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of person who would ever want the responsibility of a kid,” Virgil admitted, frowning.

 

He’d grown up in a big family where everyone was taught responsibility. Even with their father’s incredible wealth, they were all taught the value of money, how what might seem like a little to them could be the difference between life and death, full stomachs or starving kids to someone else.

 

They were hard learned lessons, but he carried them with him, always.

 

“He’s really not,” Tycho replied softly, shaking his head. “When Ami first told me, she full on admitted that the only reason she got pregnant is because he was too lazy to put anything on the end of it. Selfish bastard,” he growled, his protective side showing.

 

Virgil nodded as he pulled his shirt on, now suitably dressed as he moved to sit next to Tycho on the bed, slipping his hand into his lovers as he drew a deep breath.

 

“He tried to pressure her to get… to have an abortion,” he said through gritted teeth, “and damn if Ami isn’t one of the most headstrong people I know. She was determined to make something good of it. She’s always seeing the best in people, even if it doesn’t seem like it, ya know,” he smiled fondly as memories of their childhood played through his mind, “and she thought, if anything would settle him down…”

 

“But I guess you can’t fix that amount of lazy,” Virgil sighed, running his thumb across Tycho’s knuckles.

 

“Apparently not,” he sighed, “which is what’s got me worried. If she’s  _ here _ …”

 

“Things have gotten bad,” Virgil nodded, “I understand.”

 

He drew a shaking breath, heart hammering painfully in his chest as he forced words out, his brain and heart protesting.

 

“Look, Ty, I know how important family is but… if you need me to go...  I…”

 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ ,” Tycho smiled weakly at him. “I want you here, Virg. And you're still recovering and I'm supposed to be getting you to rest and… well, to be honest, babe, there is no way am I dealing with  _ that _ on my own.”

 

Virgil smiled, pecking him on the lips.

 

“Only if you’re sure. I don’t want to intrude.”

 

“Not at all,” Tycho grinned, sighing with relief, his arm snaking around Virgil’s waist, pulling him closer. “I’m just sorry you have to deal with my crazy family much sooner than I’d hoped.”

 

Virgil chuckled, pecking him on the nose.

 

“Oh, babe, you’re funny. Crazy family? You  _ wait _ . You haven’t spent any solid amount of time with all of  _ us _ .”

 

A sudden crying, a shrill piercing noise, muted by the door between them and the lounge drew them out of their embrace, Virgil eyeing the door unhappily.

 

“That is one _pissed_ _off_ baby,” he sighed, “Is… would Ami freak out if I went out and tried to help?”

 

Tycho raised as eyebrow as he stood up, shedding his robe. Virgil bit his lip, trying not to stare as his lover’s naked form was displayed in front of him again, arousal pumping through him. Now was  _ not _ the time.

 

“I don’t know,” he admitted, reaching for his boxers where they lay, discarded on the floor, “Ami’s a funny one. Gets good reads off of people, but she hasn’t been incredibly rude to you yet, so…”

 

The volume of the crying increased, every nerve in Virgil’s body screaming at him to  _ react _ .

 

After taking care of Alan and Gordon when they were tiny, he was hardwired to respond, his mind swirling with memories of seeing to them.

 

Gordon, in particular, had been such a fussy baby, and even as a child himself, Virgil had always been able to calm him.

 

“I’m gonna poke my head out, see if I can help,” he decided, standing up. Tycho smiled softly at him, catching his hand and spinning him around, lips finding lips as he wrapped his arms around his lover.

 

“Just, don’t be offended if Ami is a bit… standoffish,” he murmured. “She watched me go through… just tonnes of shit. She’s protective.”

 

“So am I,” Virgil chuckled softly, kissing Tycho again, soft and chaste. “We should get on like a house on fire.”

 

“Here’s hoping,” Tycho grinned, rooting around for his clothes as Virgil slipped back out the bedroom door.

 

The moment he was the other side, Ami’s eyes were on him, sharp and piercing.

 

They were a lighter shade of caramel than Tycho’s, but their cheeks bones were so similar, the resemblance striking.

 

“You worn him out again already?” she asked over the shrieking of her son, who was now in her arms, being rocked back and forth with balled fists waving above his head.

 

Virgil offered her a soft smile, taking a short breath.

 

“Ami, right? Look, I’m really sorry you had to walk in on… well, yeah,” he said sheepishly, a blush rising to his cheeks as Ami rolled her eyes, looking back down to her son. “I just want you to know, I care about Ty a lot, and…”

 

“Virgil, I would  _ love _ to have this conversation right now, but I am in desperate need of the loo and five minutes peace from this little beastie,” she sighed, nodding down at her son.

 

“He’s not settling, huh?” Virgil asked, taking a step closer.

 

Ami’s eyes were instantly back on him, sizing him up, defensive.

 

“I… no,” she admitted after a moment. “I’ve fed him, changed him, rocked him, sung to him, he’s just napped… I just don’t know what to do!” she sighed, tears pricking at her eyes. “It’s been about a week since I got more than a couple of hours continuous sleep, and…”

 

“It’s rough,” Virgil soothed her, stepping even closer. Ami allowed it, her shoulders slumping. “When they won’t stop screaming all night and you feel like you’re doing everything you can but it’s not good enough?”

 

Tears began tracking down Ami’s cheeks, her eyes bloodshot and red.

 

“I just want  _ five minutes _ ,” she sobbed, rocking her son a little move as his cries increased.

 

Virgil’s face twisted with sympathy.

 

“They’re needy little tikes,” he chuckled softly, biting his lip before holding out his arms to Ami, who regarded him, wide eyed. “Want me to take him for a bit? You can pop to the loo and…”

 

“I…” Ami began, obviously unsure. There was something about Virgil, his eyes, the way he spoke that put her at ease, but…

 

“Look, I know you’ve known me for about five minutes,” Virgil smiled a little awkwardly, “but I just want to help. Ty will be out in a sec, and he’ll make things better, okay? Just… take that break, take a breather. I promise, everything will be fine.”

 

He was using his ‘rescue’ voice without even realising it, but as Ami shuffled forward, placing the infant in Virgil’s waiting arms, it seemed to have worked.

 

“His name is Tomas,” she sighed, looking her son over. The gaze was fond but exhausted, one that Virgil himself had seen many times from his mother. “I… thank you, for this. I’ll only be a mo.”

 

“Take your time,” Virgil smiled as the tiny baby in his arms registered that something had changed, sky blue eyes darting across his face, searching for recognition.

 

The crying stopped suddenly, a smile breaking over Tomas’s face as he took in Virgil’s smile, pudgy fists waving near his face, fascinated.

 

Ami’s mouth dropped open, her journey towards the guest bedroom halted.

 

“How…” she began, shaking her head a little, “he has  _ not _ stopped screaming for the entire time and…”

 

Behind her, Tycho’s bedroom door opened, the inventor now slipping out, fully clothed.

 

“Where did you find this one?” Ami asked him sharply, turning to face him. Tycho’s eyes widened, looking between them, obviously confused. “Are there others?” she snapped, a grin splitting Virgil’ face as Tomas grabbed onto one of his fingers as he stroked his tiny face, unsure what to do with it one he had hold. “Tycho,  _ tell _ me he’s got a twin,” she urged, Tycho finally catching on as he saw Virgil. Tomas in his arms, quiet as a mouse.

 

“He stopped crying?” he asked, wandering over to Virgil, getting his first real look of his nephew in the flesh. “Oh, Ami, he’s  _ gorgeous _ ,” he remarked, pressing himself closer to Virgil to get a good look at the baby.

 

“Don’t you change the subject,” Ami chuckled. “Virgil, you said you’ve got brothers? Can they all do that? Because I want one.”

 

“Do what?” Virgil asked softly, attention caught between her and Tomas in his arms, hands now grabbing for his nose.

 

“Make him stop crying! I’ve… you know what, he seems happy, I’m gonna go sleep. Ty, don’t let your new boo steal my baby, okay boy?”

 

“But..” Tycho protested, looking to Virgil with slight panic in his eyes, “Ami, we don’t know what we’re doing!”

 

“Nonsense,” she yawned as she protested, “he’s doing fine, look! There’s bottles in the fridge, fresh naps in the bag on the table, wipes and his bug toy. Just don’t drop him, yeah?”

 

“Ami!” Tycho frowned, closing his mouth when Virgil gave him a gentle nudge, a soft smile on his face.

 

“Let her sleep,” he murmured, “it’s tiring work. And we can cope for a few hours.”

 

Tycho huffed, sighed and slumping his shoulders.

 

“Virgil, I love you, but  _ seriously _ .”

 

“It’s a baby, Ty,” Virgil chuckled, earning a beaming smile from Tomas as he still lay in his arms, cooing and gurgling, “not a bomb!”

 

“Same difference to me,” Tycho grumbled, sighing when Virgil moved away, towards the sofa. “Ugh,  _ fine _ , but let it be known, I’m only allowing this because seeing you with a baby is… rather cute.”

 

Tycho flushed as soon as the words left his mouth, casting his eyes down to the floor as he shuffled over to the door, picking up the bags Ami had unceremoniously dumped there and moving them across the room.

 

“What was that?” Virgil asked, grinning as he sat on the sofa, cradling Tomas expertly, the infant more than happy to lay in his arms, giggling away.

 

“Nothing,” Tycho murmured, face bright red.

 

“You not getting broody already, are you Ty?” he chuckled, giving Tomas his fingers to gum. “I mean, I love you and all, but isn’t a bit early to start thinking about…”

 

“Shut up,” Tycho snapped, though there was no malice behind it. If Virgil hadn’t been holding the baby, he would have earned a whack round the face with a pillow, just to wipe the shit-eating grin from his face as Tycho busied himself, trying to pretend he wasn’t nearly combusting with embarrassment. “That’s  _ not _ what I meant.”

 

“Aw, babe,” Virgil cooed, chuckling gently when Tomas gummed down on his finger, testing his bite, “don’t be embarrassed.”

 

“I’m not,” Tycho protested, eyes drifting back over to his lover, a fond look overcoming him. “You know… you’ve actually managed to hold my nephew before me,” he admitted, chuckling softly. 

 

Virgil’s expression turned guilty as he shifted himself more upright, beckoning Tycho closer with a jerk of his head.

 

“Come hold him then,” he urged him, “while I look for his toys.”

 

Tycho approached hesitantly, sitting down far too slowly and gently on the sofa, staring at Tomas like he was going to launch himself at him.

 

“What if I drop him?” he whispered as Virgil held out the squirming infant, sky blue eyes fixed on his uncle’s face.

 

“You won’t,” Virgil laughed softly, placing the baby in his lover’s arms. “That’s it, now wrap your arm a little more tightly, support his head… just like that!” he grinned his approval, stepping back as Tycho took hold of the tiny human, eyes wide as he marvelled at him.

 

“He’s so  _ small _ ,” he breathed, tiny fingers moving up to reach for his glasses, fascinated.

 

Virgil’s breath hitched as he looked over the sight of his lover cradling Tomas; suddenly, what Tycho had said didn’t seem so far off.

 

Seeing him, smiling down at the child, arms wrapped around him in such a natural way, made his heart skip a beat.

 

Swallowing down unspoken words, he cleared his throat, heading over to Tomas’s bag that Ami had left on the table, rooting through until…

 

“Aha!” he said, triumphant as he pulled out a large, folded blanket.

 

As it unfurled in his hands, it revealed a myriad of loops and arches that folded up, toys dangling from them. 

 

“Here we go!”

 

Virgil laid the blanket out on the floor, the padding thick and cushiony as he arranged the toys in perfect order, making sure they were not too high or low.

 

“These things are  _ great _ ,” he explained as Tycho watched on, fascinated, “used to have one with little fish and mirrors on it when Gordon was tiny. He’d play with it for  _ hours _ at a time, give mom time to sleep while me and Scotty watched him.”

 

“That’s ridiculously adorable,” Tycho admitted, watching as Virgil adjusted the hanging toys one final time; there were clouds, stars and suns all hanging own, the mat printed with planets and orbit trails. 

 

“Come on,” Virgil beckoned Tycho excitedly, “let’s put him down, see how he likes it.”

 

Tycho smiled weakly, looking down at the infant as if he was about to break if he moved too quickly, slowly standing, supporting him as he bent back down, onto his knees and laid him gently on the mat.

 

The moment Tomas realised he was free from constraint, he kicked his legs wildly, waving his arms and gurgled loudly, eyes immediately focusing on the rocket shaped toy directly above him, arms flailing by his sides as he tried to figure out how to reach up.

 

“He’s adorable,” Virgil chuckled as he watched the baby shift around, trying to figure out his limbs. “He’s what, about a month?”

 

Tycho nodded, looking at his nephew.

 

“About that, I think. Hang on…” He pulled out his phone, scrolling through messages from Ami. “Oh, two and a half.  _ Really _ ? I’m so far out of the loop!”

 

Virgil chuckled, leaning back on the sofa as Tomas settled himself down, happy to observed the spinning toys above him, trying to figure them out.

 

“Time does fly,” he sighed. “Seems like only yesterday my brothers were kids, now… you’ve got to make the most of every moment.”

 

He seemed lost in thought for a moment, memories washing over him.

 

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, relatively. Losing mom, losing dad, International Rescue operating the way they did… it all seemed to go by in a flash.

 

Tycho smiled softly at his lover, not missing the change in him. Leaning into him a little, he gave a contented sigh as Virgil wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer.

 

“We really do,” he smiled, his lover returning the gesture, pressing a soft kiss to his head as they both turned back to watch Tomas play contentedly.

 

No matter what, they’d be okay.

 

*-*-*-*

 

Ami didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but as her exhaustion ebbed away on waking, she drew a sharp breath as she looked at the digital clock on the bedside. It had been three hours. she’d left Tomas with Tycho and Virgil for so long!

 

Throwing the covers of the guest bed off of her, she jumped up, running to the door and throwing it open, her heart leaping in her chest at what she saw; Tomas was curled up, fast asleep in Virgil’s arm, his other thrown over Tycho as he dozed, snuggled into his shoulder.

 

They looked so content, she almost felt guilty as the larger man began to stir, eyes blinking open as he looked at her.

 

“Morning,” he murmured, the sound vibrating through his chest, making Tycho stir.

 

“Morning,” she chuckled softly, relief flooding her. “Thank you.”

 

“No problem,” Virgil smiled back at her, rocking Tomas in such a natural way it amazed her as he began to wake slowly, eyes fluttering open. “He’ll likely be hungry,” he almost whispered, “I can feed him, if you still want to rest?”

 

Ami smiled, shaking her head.

 

“Seriously… I need to meet your brothers,” she chuckled.

 

Virgil grinned at her as he slipped his arm away from Tycho, gently lowering him onto the sofa to continue his rest as he stood with Tomas still safely tucked in the crook of his elbow, moving to the kitchen to prepare his milk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! Another chapter, finally!
> 
> Thank you all for your patience.
> 
> Hope this doesn't disappoint!
> 
> More smut is coming soon, I promise, possibly of the Scott/Saz variety!


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's got a secret and Saz is in on it.
> 
> [Graphic descriptions of masturbation and sex toy use, both male and female, BDSM and panic attacks, mentions of abuse]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Scott/Saz chapter, just to warn you!
> 
> I know this isn't everyone's bag so thought I'd give you a warning!

“Mail’s here!” Alan yelled, seeing the familiar sight of the personal plane that Sally and Brains had taken to the mainland come into land on what was usually Thunderbird 2’s runway.

 

The call echoed through the lounge and down to the kitchen, Scott’s attention peaked.

 

He’d been lazily munching on a bagel, shifting through a mountain of reports sent to his comm by Brains’s automated system about the craft, the damage they’d recently sustained and any urgent repairs needed, as well as their performance logs provided by EOS, so Alan’s yell was a welcome distraction.

 

The youngest suddenly came barrelling down the stairs, heading across the room to the hangar stairs when Scott stood up, blocking his path, the blonde nearly colliding with him.

 

“Stop running, you’re gonna trip,” he warned him sternly, frowning when Alan scoffed at him.

 

“Oh, what, I’m not allowed to be excited now?” he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he came to a halt. Scott sighed, shaking his head.

 

“You  _ know _ that’s not what I mean,” he said, still frowning, “just could do without you getting a sprained ankle or broken finger right now. Why don’t you go wake Gordon up instead and let them bring everything up here first?”

 

“Because I don’t  _ want to _ ,” Alan whined, ducking past him and resuming his sprint to the stairs.

 

“I said don’t run, I… never mind,” Scott sighed as Alan’s mop of blonde hair disappeared down the stairs.

 

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, Scott sat back down with his reports, trying to ignore the thrumming in his chest.

 

He was expecting a parcel, but he knew, if he made a big deal of it, Alan or Gordon would do their utmost to get into it, as they always did. Instead, he’d wait, but his nerves were undeniable, fingers trembling as he stared blankly at the reports.

 

On Saz’s recommendation (sent with a rather raunchy photo which, on her order, he was  _ not _ allowed to jerk off over), he’d ordered some toys for himself, as well as a new one for her to try, along with the promise of a repeat or better of their session before, and it had him aching for more.

 

As much as he’d tried to deny it, his experience with her had been mind-blowing; not something he ever would have considered before, but now, he just wanted her inside him again.

 

More of Alan’s excited shouts and the sounds of Sally telling him off echoed up the stairs, indicating they were drawing closer.

 

Scott’s stomach churned with excitement and trepidation as the curled grey hair of his grandmother appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying a couple of boxes, Alan in hot pursuit.

 

“Alan Tracy, you quit it, right now,” she snapped as the young man hopped around, desperately snatching at the packages. 

 

“Oh, come on, Grandma, you spoil all my fun!” he whined, huffing behind her.

 

Scott looked around, a little surprised as Sally placed a package next to him on the table.

 

“I rescued this from your brother,” she explained, “he was trying to run off with it, but it’s addressed to you.”

 

Scott breathed a sigh of relief before frowning at Alan, his anger clear.

 

“Alan, what have I told you about touching my stuff,  _ especially _ before I’ve even had a chance to open it,” he snapped.

 

Alan grinned, shrugging casually.

 

“I was just gonna bring it up,” he lied, giggling when Scott’s frown deepened. “Besides, what’s so interesting, huh?” he asked, stepping closer.

 

Scott grabbed for the package, realising his mistake when Alan’s eyes lit up, practically radiating mischief.  _ Shit. _

 

But pulling it close so quickly, he’d given away that there is something inside there that he  _ really _ didn’t want Alan to see, and that was possibly the worst thing he could have done.

 

“Oooh, so it’s a  _ personal _ package, huh Scooter?” Alan teased, earning a growl from Scott. He hated the nickname at the best of times, particularly from the youngest.

 

“None of your business,” he snapped, knowing he was making the situation worse, but unable to stop himself.

 

His eyes widened as Alan gasped, pointing behind him.

 

“Oh my god! Virgil! I didn’t realise you were back!” he shouted, joy in his voice.

 

Scott should have known better, he realised as he snapped his head round to the stairs where Alan was pointing. But there was nothing he could do as Alan zipped past him, so fast as he slipped the parcel from underneath Scott’s hand and out into his own grasp that Scott had only just managed to push himself up from the table and reach the bottom of the stairs by the time Alan had already vanished up them.

 

“ALAN!” he yelled, sprinting up the stairs, looking for signs of his youngest sibling, “BRING THAT BACK OR SO HELP ME GOD, I’LL STRANGLE YOU.”

 

Maniacal laughter sounded from down the hallway up to the bedrooms.

 

Making a beeline after the noise, Scott’s heart was thundering in his ears, face heating up. If Alan saw what was in that box, he’d never hear the end of it.

 

“Alan,” he panted, finally reaching the end of the bedroom hall just as his brother’s door slammed shut, “please.”

 

He moved sluggishly to the door, out of breath after his sudden sprint, banging with his fist on the door as hard as he could, the entire frame shaking.

 

“Open this  _ fucking _ door,” he yelled, genuinely angry.

 

“I don’t think so, bro!” Alan giggled from the other side.

 

Scott growled, thumping the door again. 

 

“Alan, let me in,  _ right now _ .”

 

Laughter was the only reply he got as he rattled the handle vigorously, the sounds of ripping cardboard causing a chill to run through him.

 

“Alan, no,  _ please _ ,” he pleaded, hearing nothing but giggling and choked laughter on the other side of the door. Sliding down against the wooden panel, Scott bought his knees up to his chest, burying his head in his hands.

 

This was it.

 

His life was over.

 

Alan was going to start screaming with laughter, any moment. Then would come the teasing, then he’d run to find Gordon, and with the second youngest already knowing what he knew, he would literally never hear the end of it.

 

Bracing himself, he took a deep breath. And another. And another.

 

Then, he realised, Alan was no longer laughing, or making  _ any _ noise, in fact.

 

There was only silence.

 

Lifting his head up a little, he turned it sideways, pressing his ear against the door.

 

“Alan?” he asked, hesitantly.

 

The door he was leaning on suddenly opened, his weight shifted as he fell backwards with a loud ‘oof’, only barely catching himself from letting his head slam against the floor as he tensed his stomach muscles, panting with the effort.

 

Blinking a couple of times as he got his bearings, he looked up, finding Alan above him, the now open box in hand.

 

“Alan, it’s…” he began, cut off when the box was unceremoniously dumped on his stomach, drawing another wheeze from him.

 

Alan was still staring stoically ahead, eyes deliberately avoiding Scott as the older man scrambled to his feet, grabbing the box and tucking it safely under his arm.

 

“Al,” he began again, seeing how serious Alan suddenly looked, “I can exp…”

 

The door slammed in his face, Alan locking it quickly behind him, silence still permeating his senses.

 

_ Well shit _ . 

 

He sighed, shaking his head.

 

“I tried to warn you,” he growled at the door, turning and stalking away. He just hoped he hadn’t scarred his little brother for life.

 

On the plus side, he didn’t expect him to be stealing or opening any of his packages in the future.

  
  


*-*-*-*

 

Scott hesitated as he held his comm in his hand, looking at Saz’s number.

 

It had been two days since he’d last spoken to her, and even though she’d informed him that she’d got holiday and would be free, even though he’d worked out the time difference down to the millisecond, he was still trembling with nerves.

 

He’d fully opened his package, the contents now arranged neatly on his bed; a large bottle of lube (of which she’d recommended the brand), a slender, tapered, curved tip vibrator, a rather odd looking anal bead toy with small globes of silicon gradually increasing in size with a wide handle at the end, 2 sets of cock rings and, the things that was both interesting him and terrifying him the most, a purple, jelly like butt plug which, now he looked at it, seemed rather large compared to… well, him.

 

Shivers ran through his body of both excitement and trepidation as he drew a deep breath, pressing the call button and resigning himself to the experience.

 

He was already naked, his door locked, checked and checked again, the blinds closed and his comms turned to the lowest setting and set to do not disturb.

 

Whatever happened, he was going to enjoy at least  _ some  _ alone time.

 

“Well hello,” Saz purred down the comm, her hologram flickering to life.

 

Scott drew a sharp breath, his heart pounding doubletime as he took in her image; she was laid on her side on a bed, naked except for a mostly translucent nightgown which was already pulled down under her breasts as she gently toyed with one of her nipples, a soft smile playing on her lips.

 

Her long, red hair tumbled down in soft curls past her shoulders, loose and free, falling over her breasts and framing her pale, soft featured face perfectly.

 

She looked  _ stunning _ , and suddenly, Scott was forgetting to breathe.

 

“You look a little surprised,” Saz smiled, her voice smooth and even, control over him asserted from the start.

 

Scott could only nod, swallowing has as he watched her free hand move from where it rested on her bare thigh, towards the join of her legs.

 

“Speechless, I see,” she grinned, a shiver of delight visibly running through her. Having control over such an alpha male was driving her wild, and she wanted to drag it out as long as possible. “Did your toys arrive?” she asked softly, her voice hitching a little as the tip of her index finger found her clit, rubbing it gently.

 

Again, Scott could only nod, everything else hazy and unimportant as he watched her hand move, eyes flickering over her body, wishing nothing more than to be there, right now, to have his hands on her. Not that she would ever allow it, of course, but he could dream.

 

“Show me,” she breathed, eyes fluttering shut as she pleasured herself gently, touches soft, familiar and perfect.

 

Scott drew a deep, steadying breath, trying to keep some level of sense about him as he placed the comm on the bed, widening the angle  so both he and the toys on his bed were visible to her.

 

Saz hummed her approval as she looked over them.

 

“You tried any of them yet, sweetheart?” she asked, breathy and lustful as her pleasure grew, her own touch so expert that it was driving her wild.

 

Scott shook his head.

 

“No, ma’am,” he confirmed, dropping his head a little. He felt so vulnerable, so off kilter; the whole experience was still so new, but there was a part of him aching for it, aching for  _ her _ .

 

He wanted to be punished, to be teased, to be  _ fucked _ , and while he knew he should have been ashamed, that everything he’d been taught about maintaining control, about being a leader, about being a  _ man _ went against it, he refused to fight.

 

Not when Saz made it feel as good as she did.

 

“Good boy,” she moaned, tilting her head back as another wave of pleasure swept over her. “Oh, Scotty, what I wouldn’t give to have your tongue on me, right now.”

 

Scott whimpered, his cock now rock hard and leaking, aching to be touched. Saz saw how he shifted, her grin widening.

 

“You want to touch yourself, don’t you sweetheart?” she cooed. “You want to feel your hand around your cock and imagine it’s me?”

 

Shifting in discomfort, Scott nodded again, milliseconds away from launching one and heading straight over to her, to serve her in person.

 

“Do it,” she breathed, letting out a soft laugh as Scott let out a desperate moan, his hand flying to his cock, gripping it tightly and pumping quickly. “ _ Slowly _ ,” she instructed sternly, Scott nodding as he fought to keep himself from spilling his seed over his hand right there and then, his heart hammering in his chest, more turned on that he could comprehend. “Don’t want you leaving the party early now, do we?”

 

Scott shook his head, arching into his own touch as he pumped his cock, thumbing the head gently.

 

Saz was content to watch for the moment, eyes flitting between Scott’s cock and his face, the pleasure written there so open and honest. It was refreshing, to be with someone who didn’t hold back, who didn’t just grunt and hiss, but who actually let out their emotions, their pleasure for her to see.

 

Her gaze lingered on his cock, so thick and perfectly proportioned, momentarily shocked at herself as her thoughts turned to what it might feel like inside her, what it would be like to have him below her as she rode him, slow and perfect, his hands trailing up her ribs to her breasts as his cock stretched her and filled her, flesh slipping against sensitive flesh.

 

A sudden ripple of arousal pulsed through her, catching her by surprise.

 

She moaned loudly, drawing Scott’s attention again as she arched, fighting off her orgasm as it rose up, taking hold of her body.

Shuddering, her body felt like it was on fire, electric tingles shooting through every nerve.

 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ !” she whimpered, drawing in sharp breaths.

 

This was the second time Scott had seen her cum too quickly, and it was becoming a bad habit. One she needed to break.

 

“What was that about leaving the party early?” Scott chuckled, cut off when Saz’s gaze snapped to meet his, renewed fire in her eyes.

 

“ _What_ _was that_?” she hissed, eyes still fluttering a little as her orgasm subsided.

 

Fear shot through Scott’s body, suddenly concerned he’d genuinely upset her.

 

“I… I’m sorry, ma’am,” he tried, hand falling from his cock to rest on the bed as he bowed his head a little, posture apologetic, “I… I shouldn’t have spoken like that, I…”

 

Saz smiled softly; he was obviously remorseful, but watching him getting this flustered was rather cute, so she let him stew for a couple of seconds before holding her fingers up to her lips, Scott immediately falling silent.

 

“I was going to go easy on you,” she purred, Scott’s eyes widening at her words as she shifted herself, getting comfortable to watch the show she was about to orchestrate, “but seeing as you’ve been such a back-talking little slut, I think you can be punished, just a little.”

 

Scott nearly came, right there and then, the promise of punishment and more orders almost sending him over the edge.

 

Gritting his teeth as he nodded, he forced down his arousal, whimpers sounding from his throat.

 

“Y-yes, ma’am,” he breathed.

 

“Good boy,” Saz grinned, sighing as she took in his body once more; he really was  _ quite _ a specimen. “Now… that little curved one you bought… be a dear and lube it up, would you?”

 

Scott nodded, adorable, Saz though, in how enthusiastic he was. She watched as he popped the lid off of the lube, squirting a generous amount, (as she’d taught him) on the end and rubbing it along, coating the length of the toy.

 

“Have you tried touching yourself yet?” Saz asked softly, her own hands moving to her entrance, toying with the sensitive skin there and testing her clit, seeing if she was not too sensitive to give herself another run.

 

Scott shook his head, flushing a little.

 

“No,” he admitted, sheepish, “I… I’m a bit… scared, to be honest. Don’t know if I’m… doing it right.”

 

He looked so lost, Saz almost wanted to sweep him up in her arms, to press soft kisses to his lips, to trail them down his neck and suck his sweet cock until he felt better.

 

“That’s okay,” she reassured him, glad when he breathed a soft sigh of relief, “but trust me, abbe, you’ll  _ know _ when you’re doing it right, yeah? It just take practice, and a little bit of bravery.”

 

Scott hesitated, biting him lip before his bright, sky blue eyes, so vivid, even over the call flickered up to look at her, so open it made her heart jump.

 

“Saz, ma’am,” he corrected himself, eyes fluttering, “I… can you… will you tell me how?” he asked, voice soft and vulnerable.

 

A shiver ran through Saz’s body; suddenly, she wanted him more than ever.

 

“ _ Fuck _ , Scotty,” she cooed, touching her clit again and finding the feeling sensitive but pleasurable once again, “you are the  _ perfect _ little slut.”

 

Scott nodded, his eyes still downcast.

 

“I… I want to be,” he admitted, his voice almost shy. “I… you made me feel good, in ways I didn’t even know I could and… I…”

 

Saz smiled softly at him, affection blooming in her chest.

 

She’s never had someone who was this fresh before, this inexperienced, and in a way, it was nice. Scott was so receptive to her, so eager to follow orders, to have control taken from him after being in charge for so long.

 

It was refreshing, in the best way, and she was determined to hold onto it for as long as she could, until he inevitably grew tired and moved on, as she was used to.

 

But for now, she could have her fun.

 

“Shh, sweetheart,” she cooed, “you don’t have to explain. You’re doing so well, and I’m going to be here for you every step of the way, okay?”

 

Scott nodded, a tingling running through his body. 

 

He felt dirty but exhilarated, he wanted more, but he was truly scared. Pain had never been a friend.

 

“First off,” Saz said, voice calm and clear, “I want you to lay down on the bed, sweet. You get yourself comfortable and spread your legs for me, okay?”

 

Scott nodded, shifting to move when Saz called him again, a wicked grin on her face.

 

“Oh, and Scotty? I want you to face me. I’m not missing a single moment of this, understand?”

 

Swallowing hard, his cock twitching at the prospect, Scott moved around, his feet facing the comm. Dropping his legs open, his cock and his puckered hole was put on full display for Saz, who groaned in approval.

 

“You’re  _ gorgeous _ , Scotty,” she praised, noting the shiver of delight that ran through him. “Now, I want you to take that little tapered thing, and I want you to press it into your ass for me, nice and slow, okay?”

 

Scott whimpered, hand grasping for the toy, hands shaking with anticipation.

 

“Take it slow,” Saz reminded him, the tip of that is tiny and will stretch you out nicely, but if it gets uncomfortable, you let me know, okay?”

 

“O-okay,” Scott nodded, bringing the toy up to his ass, visibly shaking as he angled it up, pressing the tip against his hole.

 

Even the tiny amount of pressure sent his nerves into overdrive, his body tensing.

 

“You need to relax, babe,” Saz urged softly, “just breathe, okay? Take your time, nice and slow. It’ll feel good, I promise, okay?”

 

Scott nodded wordlessly again, forcing himself to breathe as he pushed against the toy, the very tip breaching his body with minimal effort.

 

The lube was cold, a shiver running through him as the silicon glided inside him, his muscles pushed out of the way. A moan escaped his lips as he felt the pressure of the toy increase the deeper it got; it wasn’t huge by any means, but to Scott, it felt  _ massive _ .

 

“How does that feel, babe?” Saz breathed, her fingers teasing at her clit again. She’d shifted now, two fingers holding herself open while the other teased her clit, her entrance dripping wet, providing the perfect lube as she glided across the sensitive nub, dipping down to wet the digit occasionally.

 

“Good,” Scott grunted through gritted teeth.

 

Even from the tiny bit of his face she could see, she could tell his face was screwed up.

 

“Stop,” Saz ordered suddenly, Scott’s movements stilling, the toy half embedded in him. He whined, panting for breath. “Don’t  _ lie to me _ ,” Saz hissed, displeasure clear in her voice, “this will  _ not _ work unless you are open and  _ honest _ with me, okay Scott? You continue to lie and this will stop, for good. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes, yes!” Scott nodded frantically, “Please, Saz,  _ please _ .”

 

“Please what?” she asked, frowning a little. He was slipping. She gave some leeway while he was adjusting, understanding of his fear, but he needed to fall back in line.

 

“Ma’am,” he cried, desperation clear, “please, ma’am,  _ please _ !”

 

Saz smiled, satisfied. 

 

“Go ahead,” she purred, eyes fixed on his entrance as he let out a cry of relief, the toy beginning to slip further inside him again.

 

There was an addictive power in this, in knowing he would follow her commands, even when she was on the other side of the world. He could stop anytime, walk away whenever he wanted, but instead, he was here,  _ obeying her _ .

 

“F-fuck!” he whimpered as the largest part of the toy pushed into him, about as wide as two fingers. It was around the same size as the cock Saz had fucked him with, and the memory of their encounter sent shivers through him as he pushed it all the way in, the curved end slipping up a little.

 

A sudden burst of pleasure had him nearly screaming at the sensation, sobs escaping his lips as he arched, the toy touching the perfect spot inside him.

 

“Hold that there,” Saz grinned, relishing in Scott’s whimpering moan, garbled curses escaping him. “You feel that? That’s your prostate, babe,” she explained softly, her own words strained and breathless as she fought a second orgasm, the sight of Scott fucking himself turning her own more than she thought it would. “That’s what that toy was designed for; to reach it, to  _ pleasure you _ . Now take it out, nice and slowly, until the thickest part is out.”

 

Scott whimpered as he obeyed, slipping the toy back out as she’d instructed.

 

“Good boy,” Saz smiled softly, sighing as electrical bolts of pleasure ran through her. “Now, slip it back in, nice and slow.”

 

Scott did as he was told, sliding the toy back in, the friction against his inside torturous and moreish. Without thinking, he pulled it back out a couple of inches and slid it back in, pumping the toy in and out of his body, fucking himself.

 

Saz almost stopped him, almost opened her mouth to protest, but the  _ noises _ leaving him had her on edge again, mewling cries of pleasure, whimpering moans and whispers of her name all making her body ache. 

 

She  _ wanted  _ him, she realised with a sharp intake of breath from her, in ways she hadn’t wanted or had anyone in  _ years _ .

 

There had been too many people in her past, too many controlling assholes, too many people denying her pleasure in search of their own, too many times she’d been hurt.

 

But Scott wasn’t like that. From the moment they’d met, even if he’d flirted badly, he’d been nothing but polite, considerate,kind and understanding.

 

Even when she’d taken him home and fucked him, for his first time, he’d been receptive but thoughtful. The kiss he’d given her as he left still lingered in her mind, even as she watched him fuck himself with a toy she’d instructed him to buy, putting on a show for her, moaning her name now as he continuously pressed against his prostate, desperate for release.

 

“ _ Please _ ,” he whimpered, pressing the toy inside himself, holding it against his prostate, “Saz, ma’am,  _ please _ , let me cum,  _ please _ !”

 

The desperation in his tone bought her tumbling back to earth, eyes refocused on him as she took in his predicament.

 

“Turn it on,” she said gently, seeing how he was holding the toy against himself, “turn it on and cum for me.”

 

Scott nodded, whining as he fumbled for a moment with the end of the toy, a loud, whimpering cry leaving his lips as the toy began vibrating against his spot, sending him over the edge.

 

He arched his back, strong legs tensing with the action, muscles bulging.

 

“F-fuck,  _ fuck _ , Saz!” he whimpered, his free hand moving to his cock and giving himself one quick pump up and down, and he was done, cum spurting onto his stomach in thick ribbons, coating his skin as he shivered, his body tensing and releasing.

 

“Scott,” Saz breathed as he came down, so close to her own orgasm but suddenly concerned for him, “don’t…”

 

Her warning came too late as he pulled the toy out a little too quickly, his body resisting.

 

He let out a cry of pain, the motion stopping too late as the toy fell from his body, catching him on the way out.

 

“F-fuck, shit,” he whimpered, laying down flat. His chest was still heaving, face screwed up with something other than pleasure now.

 

“You should have listened!” Saz scolded him, stopping her actions entirely. “Scott, are you okay?”

 

“Fuck, I… I think so,” he murmured, sitting up a bit. He leant off the bed, grabbing something from the floor. He soon bought back a towel, cleaning himself up, a sheepish look on his face. “Saz, I… I’m sorry, I just kind of… lost it a bit,” he admitted, “I…”

 

Saz shushed him a frown on her face.

 

“The only thing I’m upset about is that you got hurt because you  _ didn’t listen _ ,” she hissed, displeasure clear.

 

Scott dipped his head a little in submission, feeling guilty.

 

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, “I’m…”

 

“You could have got seriously hurt, Scott,” she chastised him, “If that thing was any bigger…”

 

“I’m sorry,” he sighed, “fuck, I’m pissed at  _ myself _ . This was meant to be about you, and…”

 

“About me?” Saz asked, suddenly taken aback. “But I thought you…”

 

“Oh, I  _ do _ ,” Scott smiled softly, an exhaustion in his gestures now, “but I know you… you like this and... yeah, it feels good, like,  _ really _ good, but… I wanted to do something for  _ you _ . You’ve already done so much for me.”

 

Saz scoffed a little, her heart tightening in her chest.

 

“I haven’t done anything,” she protested, a small lump rising in her throat as old memories resurfaced. “I’ve used you for my own pleasure. That’s all.”

 

Scott looked taken aback, eyes widening a little.

 

“Used me?” he asked, voice wavering a little. “Saz, you haven’t  _ used _ me. Everything we’ve done, all of this, it’s been mutual. Why would you… you’re not using me, okay? I… I want this. I  _ enjoy _ this. Don’t think otherwise.”

 

Saz remained stoic, eyes glistening a little as she nodded.

 

“Okay,” she breathed, trying not to let her voice crack. “Look, Scott, I’m sorry, but I…”

 

“Have I done something wrong?” he asked quickly, “is it because I didn’t listen, look, Saz, I… I’m sorry, I…”

 

“No, sweetheart,” she smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “I… I need to do some stuff, but I’ll be okay. I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

 

“My morning or yours?” Scott asked with a soft chuckle, wincing as he shifted on the bed.

 

“You sure you’re okay?” Saz asked, concerned.

 

“I’ll be fine,” Scott reassured her with a wave of his hand, “I’ve…”

 

A knock on his door drew his attention, making him jump.

 

“Scott, you okay? I heard groaning,” Gordon asked, obviously trying not to laugh.

 

“Looks like i’ve been rumbled,” Scott sighed, looking to Saz again. He wished he could go through the hologram, give her a hug, kiss her,  _ feel her _ . “I’ll speak to you tomorrow. Call anytime. I’ll be up.”

 

“I’ll work something out,” Saz smiled softly, opening her mouth as if to say something, but thinking better of it.

 

“You okay?” Scott asked, not missing the gesture.

 

Sighing at how perceptive he was, Saz smiled.

 

“Just… thank you, Scott. For this. For… being so… receptive.”

 

“Anytime,” Scott grinned as the banging on his door got louder, “and I mean that, okay?”

 

Saz nodded, smiling as she hung up the call, worried that, if she stayed for a moment longer, if she continued looking into those cobalt eyes, she was going to get lost forever.

 

The moment the call cut off, Saz took a deep breath, tears spilling over her eyes that she’d managed to hold back for so long.

 

How the hell had Scott, in such a short amount of time, bought all of the emotions she’d managed to repress, to push down for so long, bubbling to the surface.

 

Bringing her legs up to her chest, she curled into herself, the scars littering her back, hundreds tiny little marks that had been left by violence of the worst kind tingling uncomfortably.

 

Scott had no right to make her want again.

 

She’d sworn, years ago, when she’d gotten away from  _ him _ , that no man would ever touch her like that again.

 

There had been too many instances of violence, too many times she’d said no and it had fallen on deaf ears, and she’d decided, long ago, that no-one would ever be in control of her body, in control of her pleasure, except for her.

 

But now… her body ached in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time, the thought of Scott slipping inside her, whispering soft words of affection and praise as she knew he would at the forefront of her mind.

 

Shaking her head, she dispelled the thought.

 

No, this had to be her body reacting, and her bodies reactions could be managed in their own way. Her mind was only reacting to a need, nothing more.

 

Taking a deep breath, she shifted herself off of the bed to sit up on the edge, reaching for her bedside cabinet.

 

Pulling out the drawer hesitantly, she peeked inside at the contents; ones she had bought in a drunken stupor that had been put away and never looked at again. But now…

 

She pulled out one of the boxes, hands shaking.

 

It was a lifelike dildo, flesh coloured, thick and firm but soft to the touch, she found as she took it out of the box. Touching it softly, she bit her lip, considering her options.

 

She was still soaked from watching Scott fuck himself, her body aching to be filled.

 

Drawing another steadying breath, she laid herself down on the bed, hesitating again for a moment before reaching back into the drawer and grabbing the bottle of lube nestled inside.

 

Even if she was so ready, after so long, it was a good idea to be safe.

 

If she was going to do this, she was damn well going to enjoy it.

 

Settling herself down, she spread her legs, drawing her knees up a little to give herself access.

 

Her entire body was shaking as she coated the dildo in a thin layer of lube, biting her lip as she reached down, pressing the tip of the toy to her entrance.

 

She drew a sharp breath, the sensation familiar and not in an entirely good way. Pushing all of the dark thoughts that swarmed her mind away, she ignored her body as it flinched away, an automatic reaction.

 

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, relaxing her body as she pushed the dildo inside her body, gasping as her flesh was stretched for the first time in years.

 

“ _ F-fuck _ !” she whimpered, closing her eyes and arching her back a little. The delicious slide of the cool lube coated toy inside her was intoxicating, pulses of pleasure running through her; she’d forgotten how good this could feel.

 

Taking a few more shaky breaths, she pushed the toy deeper inside her, touching parts of her that sent tingling shocks of pleasure ricocheting through her every nerve.

 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” she whimpered to the empty room, breath coming in quick pants now as she gently withdrew the toy a couple of inches, pushing it back in.

 

Pleasure shot through her again, her back arching once more as she set a steady pace, pumping it in and out of her body, whimpers, moans and gasps escaping her as she tried to fight them, trying to deny how good it felt.

 

To finally be filled again, to finally be  _ fucked _ , it was a huge release.

 

As the ecstasy flooding her system grew, she began to lose control, her pace quickening.

 

She wasn’t going to last long, but she wanted it to be good.

 

Slipping her free hand to her clit, she rubbed it gently, moaning even louder as she began thrusting back against the toy, unable to deny how good it felt any more.

 

The wave of pleasure inside her was cresting, rolling towards a crashing climax when, unbidden, images flashed into her mind;

 

_ Scott’s sky blue eyes, boring into hers and he rocked his hips against her, plump ligs agape and wonder in his eyes as he gazed down at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. _

 

_ “So beautiful,” he’d whisper, pinning her hands above her head as he surged into her, his cock touching all the parts of her that made her crumble under his touch. _

 

Imagining his eyes, his body, feeling like it was  _ Scott’s _ cock inside her, pushed her over the edge.

 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ , oh god,  _ Scott _ !” she cried, arching against the toy as her orgasm hit her, harder than she’d had in years.

 

Thrashing her head from side to side, she arched and moaned, mind filled with images of Scott, so vivid and real that she could almost feel him stroking hair from her face, almost feel lips on her cheek.

 

But once her orgasm had relented and her eyes fluttered open, she found herself still alone.

 

Hissing as she slid the dildo from her body, she sighed at the loss, wondering why she let that  _ bastard _ take away such pleasure from her.

 

After all, it was on her terms, she was in control. No harm would come to her while she was alone.

 

Her mind drew up images of Scott again, all soft brown hair and piercing blue eyes and memories of his tongue on her clit and soft hands on her body.

 

Shivering with need, she bit her lip.

 

This had been a mistake. Using the toy, feeling herself filled again, it had been so wrong. Because now, all she wanted was him inside her.

 

Sighing, she drew her cleaning wipes from the draw, cleaning off the dildo and putting it back in carefully, regarding it with interest and a certain amount of fondness.

 

It would  _ definitely _ be getting a few more uses now.

 

But the doubt, the fear she’d felt before came creeping back, the images of Scott being gentle, kind and perfect melding with images of  _ him _ , of being held down, of being  _ controlled _ .

 

Whimpering as she failed to push the images from her mind in time, Saz curled in on herself, shaking.

 

Steady breathing turned to gasps as she struggled for breath, images of violence and memories of pain flooding through her.

 

Reaching for her comm, she tried to open her breathing app, to try and ground herself, but this attack was definitely worse than she’d experienced in a while.

 

Maybe pushing herself so quickly hadn’t been a good idea after all.

 

Trembling fingers fumbled over the comm’s screen, Saz’s focus slipping as the attack overtook her, vision fading to a haze.

 

She didn’t even realise she’d dialled Scott’s contact by accident as the comm slipped from the bed, clattering to the floor as she curled into a ball, resigning herself to a night of panic, pain and darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to 50 chapters and I've got such big plans for this!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and continues to follow this story, I'm so in love with this!
> 
> Also I may be in love with Saz a bit


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's on a mission, Virgil and Ami have a moment and Tycho's past begins to come to light.
> 
> [MAJOR trigger warnings for talk of abuse, rape, abusive relationships and panic attacks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to re-iterate, MAJOR trigger warnings for talk of abuse, rape, abusive relationships and panic attacks in this chapter.
> 
> Thank you for all of the lovely comments, I'm slowly getting round to replying to them all!
> 
> Posting this up for International Writing Day!
> 
> Comments sustain me, so good or bad, please let me know what you think!

“Missing me already?” Scott grinned, answering his comm as soon as he saw Saz’s name pop up.

 

He was relieved, more than anything, so sure he’d managed to piss her off during the encounter. Wearing nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, hair still dripping from the shower he’d just taken, droplets trickling down his chiseled chest, he smiled softly, waiting for a response.

 

So he was more than a little disappointed with he noted the call was audio only, having hoped to have shown off, just a little.

 

The smile turned to a frown when he was greeted with silence, upping the volume of the call when he heard soft noises, what sounded like whimpers and moans.

 

“Saz?” he asked, the frown turning into a grin. “Are you doing what I  _ think _ you’re doing? Because, if you are, that’s  _ fucking _ ho-”

 

“ _ Help… me _ .”

 

Scott froze, blood running cold.

 

“Where are you?” he asked, immediately switching to his professional mode. “Talk to me, tell me what’s going on.”

 

The whimpering which came as response on heightened his concern as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt as quickly as he could, staring at the comm.

 

“Saz, you need to talk to me,” he urged, “are you hurt?”

 

“ _ Please _ ,” she breathed, voice small and quiet.

 

“ _ Shit _ ,” Scott hissed, toeing on his shoes as he ran towards the door of his room, comm out in front of him. “Just, hold on, Saz, I’m… oof!”

 

He stumbled, Gordon’s foot in front of having tripped him up in the doorway while he was distracted.

 

“Who ya talkin’ to?” the blonde grinned, knowingly as Scott stumbled, righting himself quickly.

 

Scott shook his head, raising the comm in his hand, trying to convey that this was  _ not _ the time. But Gordon completely missed the point, still smiling expectantly as he moved in front of him, blocking his path.

 

“Gordon, get  _ out of my way _ ,” Scott hissed, a whimper coming from the other end of the comm.

 

“ _ Scott _ ,” Saz whimpered, “ _ help, me, pl-please! _ ”

 

Gordon’s face dropped, his entire demeanour changing.

 

“Who’s that?” he asked, tone serious now. “What’s going on?”

 

“I’m handling it,” Scott reassured him, “I’m taking One, tell John I’ll be in contact, but I…”

 

Another whimper drew his attention, Saz’s comm again.

 

“ _ Scott, I… I can’t breathe, _ ” she whimpered, tone desperate, “ _ help, me… _ ”

 

“Go,” Gordon said, voice short and serious, “she needs to you, Scott.”

 

His older brother nodded, running off down the hall as Gordon watched him go with a concerned look on his face.

 

“Whoever  _ she _ is…”

 

Gordon’s stomach was twisting with concern. Since Scott had returned to the island, he’d been different; more relaxed, for sure in a lot of ways but in others, he seemed totally on edge, concerned and incredibly uptight.

 

He wasn’t often one for broadcasting his social life, but this was different. He’d become even  _ more _ closed off, and something didn’t sit right with the situation.

 

Gordon though for a moment, idly wondering if John would be able to shed some light. There was only one way to find out…

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

Alan was playing games on the lounge holoscreen, trying to distract himself from his earlier encounter with Scott and his ‘mystery box’ when John’s hologram cut through on the emergency channel, making him jump.

 

“Holy  _ shit _ , John!” he cried, nearly throwing the controller in shock, “give a little warning, wha...”

 

His words were cut off as Thunderbird 1’s launch sirens sounded, the pool sliding back, ready for launch.

 

“What the hell?” he asked, looking to John’s hologram, who looked equally confused.

 

“I was about to ask  _ you _ the same thing,” John explained quickly, looking at his readouts. “EOS just alerted me that One was launching, what’s going on?”

 

“I don’t know!” Alan exclaimed, watching as the huge silver rocket launched from the pool, scattering the furniture by the side as it did so.

 

The launch sent a torrent on warm air into the house, Alan bracing himself against the familiar shockwave that shook the paintings on the walls.

 

“Why’s he launching? Is there a rescue? What’s going on?” he asked, looking at his older brother with concern as the craft shot up into the sky, heading away from the island. John frowned, looking across his screens. 

 

“I have  _ no _ idea,” he admitted, “all I know is that Scott’s not answering his comms and his trajectory is set for Scotland.”

 

“Scotland?” Alan asked, surprised, “What’s in Scotland?”

 

“Beats me,” John admitted with a frown, “but whatever it is, he needs to tell us.”

 

“You mean he hasn’t said  _ anything _ ?” Alan replied, voice trembling a little This behaviour was so out of the ordinary. What if there was a rescue? Where was Scott going? Whatever was going on, he shouldn’t be going on his own.

 

“He’s not answering his comms,” John repeated with a sigh, “and it looks like he’s on the line to someone.”

 

“You don’t think,” Alan began, pausing to bite his lip. “John, have you managed to talk to Virgil?”

 

John’s face went visibly pale, eyes widening. 

  
“Shit,” he hissed, “I hadn’t even  _ thought _ of that.”

 

Hands moving over his screens and readouts, John looked at the clock, feeling a little guilty as he noted it was almost 1am in London. 

 

Taking a deep breath, he called Virgil’s comm, surprised when he answered almost instantly. Even more surprising was the fact that he had a  _ baby _ nestled in the crook of his elbow, the infant happily drinking away from a bottle of milk while Virgil rocked him.

 

“Hey Johnny, what’s up?” he asked, sounding far too cheery.

 

John blinked, trying to process the situation.

 

“Uh, Virg? Anything you want to tell me?” he asked with a soft chuckle. “ _ Please _ tell me you and Tycho didn’t adopt already…”

 

Virgil’s eyes widened, suddenly realising how it must look.

 

“Oh, oh no!” he laughed softly, rocking the baby as he began to fuss, “this is Ty’s nephew, his sister dropped in. We’re just giving her a break. Little Tomas here doesn’t want to settle, so I’m on duty for a minute.”

 

John smiled broadly at his brother, heart swelling with affection.

 

“Well look at you, rescuer through and through,” he grinned, holding back a laugh when Virgil blushed. “But you always were a natural.”

 

“So everyone keeps telling me,” Virgil smiled back. “Anyway, what’s up? I guess you weren’t just calling me a quarter to one in the morning to chat?”

 

“Oh, right,” John said, clearing his throat, the concern he’d previously felt rushing back over the warmth in his chest. “It’s Scott,” he explained quickly, “he’s launched One, heading to somewhere in Scotland. Anything you know about?”

 

Virgil thought for a moment, fear gripping his features for a second before he turned, murmuring something to someone not visible on the comm.

 

“He’s not heading to Hopehouse, by any chance, is he?” he asked when he turned back, face holding a tiny bit of concern.

 

John checked his readouts.

 

“Yeah, actually, he is,” he replied, surprised. “How did you know?”

 

“Saz, Ty’s assistant, the one he helped home when he dropped me off lives there,” Virgil explained, rocking Tomas in his arms as he began to wiggle around a little. “Maybe he’s going back to see her?”

 

“In Thunderbird One?” John retorted, feeling a little awkward when Virgil frowned.

 

“Scott wouldn’t launch without a reason,” he chastised John. “He’s not one to take ships out on joyrides. If he’s gone, there’s a reason behind it.”

 

“I know, I know,” John sighed, shaking his head, “I’m only concerned because he hasn’t told me why. He’s still not answering his comms.”

 

Virgil’s face shifted to one John didn’t see very often; it was a look that reminded him far too much of their mother, stern and angry but concerned at the same time.

 

“I’ll call him,” Virgil said flatly, “and when I get hold of him, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

 

“But,” John began to protest, stopping when the line went dead. Sighing in frustration, he let out a growl. 

 

Sometimes, Virgil could be as infuriating as the rest of them.

 

*-*-*-*

 

“Ty, babe, can you try and put him to bed?” Virgil asked his lover as he lay on the bed, observing him holding his nephew.

 

Tycho gave a soft smile as he pushed himself into a sitting position, nodding and holding his arms out to take the baby.

 

“Everything alright?” he asked softly, voice hushed now Tomas was starting to settle again.

 

Ami was asleep in the guestroom, having been exhausted and in need of a proper night's sleep, and Virgil, being the thoughtful soul he was, had offered to have him in with them for the night, promising her rest.

 

So when John called, they’d already been awake, something Virgil was extremely grateful for.

 

But after receiving the call from his brother, Virgil seemed tense, even as he tried to hide it.

 

“It’ll be fine,” Virgil reassured him as he gently passed Tomas over, smiling softly as he watched his eyes droop and flutter back open, obviously fighting sleep. “I just need to make a quick call and I’ll be back in, okay?”

 

Tycho gave him a soft smile, worry clear.

 

“Don’t worry, Scott’s just being an idiot,” he grinned, “nothing new.”

 

“I, uh, guess he’s going to see Saz?” Tycho asked, “not that I was trying to eavesdrop but…”

 

He paused as Virgil smiled softly at him, wishing he had words to express just how much he adored him in that moment.

 

“Is… Is he going to see Saz? Is… everything okay?”

 

“That’s what I’m going to find out now,” Virgil murmured, dropping a kiss on Tycho’s head. The smaller man smiled softly at him, obviously worried.

 

“Let me know, yeah?”

 

“Of course,” Virgil smiled, grabbing his comm and heading out into the lounge.

 

He softly closed the door behind him, limping towards the still open balcony. His knee was still painful and stiff, but with the band having been on all day, he felt the strength coming back slowly. He’d admitted to himself that he was avoiding using his crutches, but as he reached the kitchen and pain bloomed, he felt himself regretting the decision.

 

The pain added to the anger he felt coursing through him at Scott not answering his comm. He could only imagine how scared everyone else on the island was, having seen him launch with no explanation and no contact, especially after the past few years and everything they’d all been through.

 

Grabbing a seat from the kitchen table, he turned it around and collapsed into it, hissing a little as the pain flared again, a slight slipping sensation shooting through his knee.

 

Lifting his comm, he punched in a series of numbers, ones he’d memorized years before; the secure network which forced a connection to the comms unit. Their father had set it up years before as a safeguard, but only Scott and Virgil had access to it at the moment, mainly due to the fear of invasions of privacy from the youngsters.

 

As soon as the line connected, Scott was rolling his eyes, his voice a growl as he spoke.

 

“Why the hell is John waking  _ you _ up with this?”

 

Virgil kept his voice low and even, reminding himself of his surroundings.

 

“Call him,  _ right now _ ,” he hissed, anger clear. Scott raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“Gordon knows I’m going to see… someone,” he explained, flushing bright red.

 

“Someone?” Virgil questioned, “You mean Saz? Oh, Scott,  _ please _ tell me you’re not taking Thunderbird One to a fucking  _ booty call _ .”

 

“What? No!” Scott shouted, Virgil wincing as he lowered the volume of the call. “She’s… I think she’s having a panic attack. She said she needed me there.”

 

“A panic attack?” Virgil asked, eyes wide. “Is she okay?” 

 

“I… I’m not sure,” Scott admitted, no small measure of fear in his voice. “I just kind of… left. Don’t even have my uniform on or anything. Just… needed to get there.”

 

“You needed to?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Scott sighed, shaking his head.

 

“It’s… complicated.”

 

Virgil sighed. He’d not seen Scott like this a lot, but he knew the signs when he saw them.

 

“You seeing her?”

 

“Yes? No… I don’t know, Virg,” Scott admitted with another defeated sigh. “She’s… I… I can’t explain. You’ll think it’s weird but…”

 

“You like her,” Virgil finished for him with a sigh. “She gets your weirdness.”

 

“Kind of,” Scott nodded, “but… I think she needs help. Like…”

 

“Alright, alright,” Virgil waved him off, “I trust your judgement. Just don’t want you rushing into things and getting yourself into a situation.”

 

“Like you did?” Scott snorted derisively.

 

Virgil scowled at him.

 

“It’s not the same and you  _ know it _ ,” he hissed, genuine anger flooding through him again.

 

“How is this not the same?” Scott scoffed. “Just because you’ve been hurt doesn’t make this any different.”

 

“I’m gonna give you one chance to shut your mouth before I lose it,” Virgil snapped, a little louder than he meant to, hands balling into fists. His heart was hammering in his chest, lack of sleep and frustration grinding him down.

 

“Oh, fuck off, Virg,” Scott hissed, “you think you’re  _ so  _ fucking special with your  _ magical _ relationship with Tycho. What makes  _ yours _ so special, huh?”

 

Virgil wanted to shout. He wanted to yell and scream about how little Scott knew, about how fucking  _ alive _ Tycho had made him feel after years of feeling dead, about how he’d  _ saved him _ .

 

But instead of releasing that anger, he felt fat tears rolling down his cheeks, bought on by the reality that, Scott was right. They were the same as anyone else. And there was nothing to stop this from falling apart like everything else.

 

This wasn’t some magical, untouchable thing they shared. It was a relationship, like any other.

 

He slammed the comm shut, his brother’s hologram disappearing before he could see the regret on the older man’s face.

 

As Virgil typed a message to John, letting him know that Scott was en-route to help a friend, unable to face him on a call right now, his mind began twisting everything, as it often did. Tears rolled down his face as he threw the device across the table until it skittered to a halt at the end, taking a shuddering breath and burying his head in his hands.

 

Scott was right. They weren’t some shining example of a couple, untouchable by doubt or strife or concern or jealousy. And in time, Tycho would likely grow tired of him, of constantly watching him fly into danger when he was back in action, of waiting to hear if his life was one of those claimed when disaster struck, and the thought left him reeling.

 

Sobs wracked his chest as he wrapped his arms around himself, unsure where this surge of doubt and despair had been hiding, disgusted at himself that he greeted it like an old friend, a familiar companion, rather than the invasive, dark cloud it was.

 

_ This _ was normal. This doubt. Virgil didn’t get happiness or joy, not for long. If things  _ could _ go wrong, they would. That was his life, the way things worked. And he’d accepted that. Why did he think that  _ this _ would be any different?

 

He was giving himself over to despair, thinking of ways to escape, to slip away while Tycho was sleeping, to save himself the pain of having to go through this  _ again _ when a slim, pale pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, a chin resting on his head in an almost annoying manner.

 

Taking a sharp breath, Virgil looked up, seeing the hands crossed across his chest, manicured and deep blue painted nails giving away that it wasn’t Tycho.

 

“‘Sup chick?” Ami asked softly, giving him a squeeze. Virgil shook his head, unsure how to react to her affection. The older woman sighed, removing herself from Virgil and coming in front of him, crouching down to look at him. “That your brother on the line?” she asked casually, searching through the pockets of her dressing gown, pulled tightly around her.

 

Virgil nodded, wiping tears from his cheeks furiously, embarrassed at being found like this.

 

“Sounds like an asshole,” Ami sighed. “He single?”

 

Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew he shouldn’t, that Ami’s humour was self deprecating, but when she smiled at him as he lifted his head, he knew that’s what she’d been aiming for.

 

“That there’s a gorgeous smile,” she noted, grin widening when Virgil blushed. “Can see why Ty fell for ya.”

 

Virgil shook his head, dark thoughts beginning to return. Ami saw it, laying a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Let me guess,” she mused. “You got hurt,  _ bad _ and Ty’s your first since then? And you’re worried everything’s gonna fall apart because you’re broken?”

 

Virgil’s gaze snapped up to hers, breath catching in his throat.

 

“How…?” he choked, unable to formulate words.

 

“Ty’s the same,” she admitted, eyes holding a level of sadness he hadn’t seen in anyone in a long time. Not since… 

 

Ami sighed, pulling a crumpled back of cigarettes from her pocket and pulling one out, nodding towards the balcony. Virgil nodded, trying to force himself from his chair. A hiss left his mouth from between gritted teeth as he felt his knee slip again. Ami tutted, motioning for him to stay before heading towards the door where his crutches rested, bringing one over. 

 

Virgil nodded in thanks as she handed it to him, pushing himself up and following her onto the balcony, shivering a little as the cool air of the early morning hit his skin. Dressed only in a thin shirt and sleep shorts, he felt rather exposed as he leant against the cold metal of the balcony, regarding the cigarette Ami offered him as she lit up her own with a measure of trepidation; it had been a long time since he’d smoked last.

 

“I only do this when shit’s bad,” she explained quickly. “And shit seems  _ bad  _ right now, for both of us.”

 

Sighing, he took the cigarette, along with the light she offered straight afterwards.

 

“Ty ain’t told you about the last guy, right? Or the one before that?” she asked, tone knowing.

 

Virgil shook his head as he lit the cigarette, taking a deep drag. The smoke hitting his lungs was an odd form of sharp comfort, making him want to cough and sigh at the same time as nicotine rushed into his bloodstream.

 

Ami sighed, leaning against the railing and looking out over the sleeping city, closing her eyes as memories flooded through her.

 

“His money, his generosity never went unnoticed,” she began, voice shaking a little. “Last two people, right pieces of work. The first, they were together three years, he found out he’d been siphoning money off from the company, back when it was new. Nearly bankrupted him, as well as gifting his with such  _ lovely _ scars when he kicked the shit out of him at the end. Ever noticed those marks on his wrists? Yeah…” she trailed off, taking another drag of her cigarette, anger clear in her tone.

 

“I…” Virgil began, closing his mouth when he realised she wasn’t finished.

 

“So when  _ he _ came along, this guy, a few years later, Mischa, his name was. He… he seemed so nice. The total opposite. Would do  _ anything _ for Ty. Took him on holidays, to meet his family, helped his business with investments… sounding familiar?”

 

Virgil’s blood ran cold, his entire body freezing as Ami looked at him, a sharpness in her gaze.

 

“I’d never,” Virgil croaked, still finding his voice, “I  _ love _ him.”

 

“I know, sweet,” Ami sighed, “and that’s what I’m struggling with.”

 

Virgil gave her a cautious look.

 

“Look, I can tell, this is different,” she admitted, taking another drag, “and I can tell, even from the short time I’ve known ya, you’re  _ not _ like that. I mean,  _ fuck _ , the way you’ve helped today, I… I can’t thank you enough, but… Mischa… he  _ fucked up _ Ty’s life, Virgil. In ways I can’t even begin to explain. He turned him against  _ everyone _ . Me, our parents, Saz, Teddy,  _ everyone _ . Made him think  _ he  _ was the only person in the world who cared about him, up until he was on his own and when he…” she paused, taking a deep breath. “When he hurt him, when he nearly  _ killed him _ , he felt like he was all alone. And Ty’s lived with that, every day, for  _ years _ . That fact you… he’s…”

  
  


She took another shuddering breath, flicking the butt of her cigarette off of the building.

 

“He loves you,” she admitted, “and that  _ scares me _ , but… I like you, Virg. You’re a good person, and Ty’s not gonna let go, so long as you don’t. Ya understand? He needs this as much as you, and I don’t know what you’ve been through, but if it’s nearly half as bad as him… maybe you two can figure out a way to heal each other.”

 

“What happened?” Virgil asked softly, unable to stop himself. Ami sighed, watching as he took one final drag of his cigarette, stubbing it out on the railing and throwing it over the side.

 

“Ty realised after a bit that he’d been played. Tried to break it off and that fucking  _ asshole _ , he… changed… Started doing all this shit to him. Tortured him,” she admitted, voice breaking a little. “Tied him up, raped him. Cut him up  _ bad _ . Told him it was all for these  _ stupid, stupid _ reasons. Like he’d looked at another guy, he’d spoken to me, let me poison his mind. If he’d stay out late, if he’d…” 

 

She stopped, her entire body trembling.

 

“I read the police reports,” she breathed, “and I cried for  _ days _ . I was physically sick, reading about the things he did… Ty say he doesn’t remember a lot of it, says he was drugged, but that sick fucker filmed  _ everything _ towards the end, kept it in some  _ fucked up _ private collection.”

Tears were rolling down her cheeks now, breath hitching as she gripped the railing, knuckles white from the pressure. 

 

“ _ Fuck, _ V,” she sobbed, turning to Virgil, eyes red and swollen as tears stained her cheeks, “he didn’t deserve it. He never deserved it, but... he thought he did, and we spent so long, so  _ fucking _ long convincing him he was better than that, that he didn’t deserve the hurt and the pain and  _ everything _ , but I  _ swear _ , there’s still a part of him that believes he does, that everyone will hurt him in the end, and  _ fuck _ , I… I just want him to be  _ loved _ .”

 

Virgil reacted on instinct, moving forward to embrace her. Ami responded without argument, both of them hugging each other tight, letting out their pain.

 

They sobbed against each other, Ami for everything that Tycho had experienced and Virgil, for his own fear, hurt and the realisation that the feeling which had originally drawn him to Tycho, the sense he’d been used was so horrifically correct; that he too had been damaged and was in need of healing and understanding.

 

The feeling turned to resolve, to the idea that he would do everything he could to heal his lover, to the promise he whispered into Ami’s hair as he clutched at her, letting it all out. 

 

“No-one will  _ ever  _ hurt him again, Ami. I promise you.”

 

Ami said nothing, but nodded as she sobbed into his shoulder, holding him close. 

 

They remained like that for a few moments before breaking apart, eyes red and tears wetting their cheeks alike. A shared smile fell between them in the moment that followed, a moment of recognition, of trust building. 

 

“Thank you, for saving him,” she murmured, leaning forward to kiss Virgil’s cheek, her voice cracked with emotion. 

 

“He saved  _ me _ ,” Virgil corrected her wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, “fuck, Ami, you have  _ no _ idea how much he saved me, how he does every day.” 

 

“Then go be with him,” she urged, similarly wiping tears from her eyes. “Go snuggle the fuck outta him and tell him, because god knows he needs to hear it. He  _ adores _ you, V. I can tell.” 

 

Virgil nodded, grabbing his crutch and making to move away from the balcony, to head to the bathroom and clean himself up before heading back to bed, afraid Tycho would wake to the sound of his tears and that his resolve wouldn't hold, that he'd break down anew. 

 

But as he moved, Ami’s hand on his arm stopped him, his eyes snapping to hers. 

 

“And ignore that asshole brother of yours, you hear?” she grinned. “What you two have… It  _ is  _ special. It'd take a moron not to see that.” 

 

Virgil chuckled. 

 

“Well, he  _ has _ been known as a bit of an idiot in his time,” he laughed. 

 

Ami grinned, patting Virgil on the shoulder as he went to leave. 

 

“But seriously, he single?” she called softly, fishing for another cigarette. 

 

Virgil just laughed as he padded back to the bedroom, shaking his head. 

 

*-*-*-*

 

By the time Virgil climbed back into bed, Tycho was fast asleep, the covers thrown off of him and his body curled tightly into a ball, trying to warm himself up, Tomas fast asleep in his cot in the corner of the room, his lullaby machine sending soothing music into the air.

 

The pilot carefully curled up behind him, chest to back and pulled the covers over both of them, Tycho sighing in his sleep as he snuggled into Virgil’s warmth, the sound both adorable and heart wrenching. 

 

His chest tightened as Tycho pressed back against him, his muscles relaxing as if having been tense as he registered Virgil’s presence, eyes fluttering open. 

 

“Virg?” he yawned, reaching back to feel for him. 

 

“I’m here, babe,” Virgil reassured him, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his neck. Tycho shuddered with pleasure, leaning back again. “Get some sleep,” Virgil urged him, wrapping his arms around his lover, heart surging again as Tycho turned in his embrace to face him, nuzzling his neck as he curled into him. 

 

“Love you,” Tycho murmured against his chest, falling swiftly back into the sweet clutches of sleep. 

 

“Love you too,” Virgil whispered, kissing his head. “So fucking much, Ty.” 

 

He was curling into his lover, sleep whispering to him, calling for him when a tiny murmur into his skin caught his attention; Tycho. 

 

“What's up, babe?” he breathed, wondering for a moment if he'd imagined it as Tycho nuzzled further into his neck, settling back down. 

 

“Don't leave,” the smaller man whimpered, still caught halfway between a dream and reality.

 

Virgil swore he felt his heart break a tiny bit as he clutched his lover close, pressing a fierce kiss to his head as he fought back tears. 

 

“Never, babe,” he whispered, wishing with every fibre of his being that he'd met him sooner, that he could have protected him, that they'd felt this love for years, wondering just where they’d be if they’d met when they were young, if they’d never felt this hurt and doubt. “I'm never leaving.” 

 


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Saz share a vulnerable moment together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience! Things will start picking up soon in terms of action, so hold onto your butts! ;)
> 
> Thanks again for all the comments and kudos, it means so much! <3

“Scott,” Saz croaked, the sound of VTOL engines outside her window drawing her from her panicked state, her entire body shivering. She felt like she was frozen solid and burning alive at the same time, body and mind in complete overdrive. Naked but for the duvet wrapped around her, even while her mind flashed up some of the worst memories of her life, guilt coursed through her.

 

He was here; he’d actually come when she’d asked, come to save her from herself.

 

She felt foolish, small and selfish.

 

Her mind was a mess of emotions, everything swirling into a mess, a wall of noise which made rational thought impossible as she curled into herself, wishing to every deity there was that she hadn’t been so _stupid_ , that she’d known her limits, that she hadn’t pushed herself.

It was too much, too soon, and she should have known that.

 

Instead of thinking of Scott, all she’d thought of was _him_ , the pain he’d caused, just like the others after him.

An insistent banging on her door downstairs made her jump, the sounds of fists hammering against the wood.

She wanted to go, to answer it, but as she made to move, her body seized, lungs burning from lack of oxygen as she struggled for breath, her body locked by fear.

 

“Scott,” she whispered again, uselessly. He was so close, so near.

 

A soft clicking alerted her to the door being opened, the slam of it as it closed resonating through the house. Footsteps thundered up the stairs, coming closer and closer until finally, her door swung open, a tall figure stood in the doorway looking around the room.

 

“Saz?” Scott called, an urgent tone in his voice.

 

“Scott,” she croaked, wishing she could stand, to greet him, to let him know that she was alright. To apologise.

 

He headed straight for her once sky blue eyes were locked on her, visible relief crossing his face.

  
“Oh, Saz, babe,” he murmured softly as he approached, crouching down when he found her curled around herself at the end of the bed, “it’s okay, everything’s okay.”

 

She leaned into him, her usually, strong facade completely shattered as she let out a choked sob, just so _grateful_ to have him there, to have his arms around her.

 

It barely even registered when his strong grip wrapped around her back and legs, lifting her onto the bed as he climbed on with her, lips in her hair and a hand linked with hers while the other stroked down her neck, offering comfort where he could. He had left her wrapped in the duvet for the most part, still covered and warm, and with him there, it was too much, exhaustion gripping her as sleep overtook her brain, sending her into an uneasy, dreamless sleep.

 

*-*-*-*

When Saz awoke, it was with a soft yelp, her entire body shivering with fear as she sat up, memory piecing together what had happened the night before.

She sat bolt upright, eyes darting around the empty room, trying to figure out the situation.

 

The call with Scott was at the forefront of her mind, replying, sending pleasant shivers down her spine. But that feeling was soon replaced with gripping fear, the memory of the panic attack.

She had remembered it starting, but not much else. Her attacks had a tendency to leave black spots in her memory, and it terrified her.

 

As she took in her room, finding everything still in its place, she reasoned that she must have gotten herself into bed and passed out from exhaustion.

 

Her head was throbbing, a sure sign that she was recovering from a bad one as she swung her legs over the side, noticing her comm on the bedside table.

 

Sighing, she reached for it, checking that she hadn’t bothered anyone with her attack; she’d often call people, usually Tycho or Teddy and end up having to explain herself for _days_ , something she abhorred.

 

Flicking through the recent calls, her heart skipped a beat, fear pulsing through her; the last three calls she’d made had been to Scott.

Blinking, she looked around the room, as if expecting him to materialise. The door was slightly ajar, but apart from that, there was no sign of anything being…

 

A sudden clattering from downstairs and a muted curse made her jump as she realised she wasn’t alone.

 

Inhaling sharply, she pushed herself up, taking a moment to regain her balance as she wobbled slightly, body still very much recovering.

 

Perhaps it was Tycho, or, more likely, Teddy. He seemed to be in tune with her, often coming to check on her, so it was possible, and he had a key.

 

She was just grabbing her dressing gown as she ditched the duvet, pulling it on in preparation to go downstairs when something caught her eye, a flash of silver out of the window.

 

Stumbling as she leant on the windowsill, her chest constricted; Thunderbird 1 was in the field opposite.

  
“Oh, _shit_ ,” she murmured to herself, mind putting two and two together.

 

Moving cautiously towards the door, she swallowed hard as she called out.

 

“Scott?”

 

There was the sound of harried movements downstairs, padding footsteps as someone made their way up the stairs and the smell of… what was that?

 

Saz sniffed the air, taking in the sweet, almost sickly smell that drifted up the stairs along with the sound of footsteps.

 

“Saz?” the familiar voice echoed down the hallway, followed by the tinkering sound of cutlery and grunting as the pilot back into the room, pushing the door open with his shoulder and turned, looking to her with a worried expression on his face.

 

In his hands was a carefully balanced tray, a plate of stacked and steaming pancakes drizzled with what looked like honey and topped with chopped strawberries resting precariously on it, along with a couple of glasses filled with various coloured liquids. The entire thing rattled as he found his footing again, giving Saz a soft smile he he locked eyes with her.

 

“Morning,” he offered softly, approaching her slowly. “I, uh, wanted to make you breakfast in bed and I didn’t know what you liked so… pancakes?”

Saz raised an eyebrow, her heart fluttering a little.

 

She thought hard for a moment, trying to recall if anyone had ever done this for her before. The conclusion left her mouth before her filter kicked in.

 

“No-one’s ever made me breakfast in bed before,” she breathed, cheeks immediately flushing as Scott’s smile grew, splitting his face. He looked positively _thrilled_ as he nodded to the bed, gesturing for her to lay back down.

 

“Well why don’t you hop back in, snuggle up and enjoy?”

 

Saz took a sharp breath, embarrassment giving way to fear and regret.

 

“Scott, why are you here?”

 

The pilots smile faded a little, a sigh escaping his lips as he carefully placed the tray onto the bed, turning back to Saz.

 

“You called me,” he explained gently, “and you seemed to be having some kind of… I guess it was an anxiety attack?”

 

“And you came all the way here for _that_?” she asked, incredulous.

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Scott shrugged, so casual, it was almost as if he hadn’t launched one of the most advanced and expensive pieces of rescue equipment _in the world_ just to come to her.

 

“Because… what if there was an emergency?” Saz asked, voice a little pitchy, “what if people needed you? You’re here and…”

 

Scott’s smile completely dropped from his face, replaced by an almost guilty look.

 

“I can go,” he offered quickly. “I just… wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn’t want to intrude.”

 

Saz’s heart clenched a little; with his eyes wide and gaze falling to the floor, Scott honestly looked like a kicked puppy, and it made her feel _awful_.

 

“It’s not that,” Saz sighed, her legs beginning to shake a little. The bad attacks often had her struggling for a few days, usually requiring time off and rest. Not wanting to worry Scott any further, she stumbled to the bed, sitting down and eyeing the plate of pancakes.

 

They did, admittedly, look _very_ tempting.

 

“Scott, you shouldn’t have come,” she chastised him gently. “Yes, I had a panic attack, but you didn’t have to make all this _fuss_. You didn’t have to stay and…” she gestured to the plate of pancakes, sighing softly. “I appreciate it, I really do, but, I’m... “She took a deep breath, trying to hold back self deprecating words. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

 

Scott frowned, shaking his head a little

 

“You were _not_ fine,” he protested, folding his arms. “Last night, you couldn’t _breathe_. I… I listened to you, was trying to keep you on the line as much as I could, as much as you were able, because _fuck_ , Saz, I thought… I thought you might die and… I needed to get here and just…”

 

He sighed, his voice beginning to shake a little.

 

Saz was taken aback, emerald eyes wide and locked on him as he dropped his head, shoulders hunched.

 

“Why?” she asked, pointedly.

 

“I don’t know,” Scott admitted. “I just… I can’t… I like you, Saz. I know it’s dumb, and I sound like a kid, but it’s true.”

 

She took a shuddering breath as he looked back to her, steely eyes locking with hers once more.

 

“You’re funny and strong and you’ve shown me things I never even knew existed, and you’re understanding and I…”

 

A lump rose to Scott’s throat as his voice turned to a croak.

 

“I can’t lose anyone else.”

 

Saz froze, her entire body tense.

 

She’d done her research on the boys, back when Tycho had first told her about Virgil. She’d read about their mother, how she’d died in an accident, the one that had spurred the creation of International Rescue, then of the disappearance of their father, how they’d lost most of their extended family over the years, most dying relatively young.

As she looked over Scott, suddenly, she didn’t see the strong, invincible rescuer that everyone else did. She saw him for what he was; frightened, grieving and scared of breaking more of his heart even as he gave it away so willingly.

 

Taking a sharp breath as she watched him struggle with his emotions, so plain on his face, she felt a tiny bit of her defence fall down, a slip which felt like it could crumble everything if she wasn’t careful.

“It was only a panic attack,” she mumbled softly, more guilt making her stomach flip as he frowned at her, unimpressed. Sighing, his shoulders relaxed as he stepped closer. Saz flinched a little, Scott halting for a moment, giving her a chance to catch up before to continued, wrapping a firm but gentle hand across her shoulders

 

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied softly, his mask back in place, the cheeky, kind smile. “I’m here, whatever happened, and that’s all that matters.”

 

Saz looked up at him, surprised to find that he was still looking at her, a soft smile resting on his lips. He looked so knowing in that moment, not like the young man she’d seen for the first time in Tycho’s office, full of youthful energy and enthusiasm, but a gentle, knowing soul who understood her pain, and the weight of that understanding made him seem older, somehow, almost wise.

 

She didn’t know what made her move, if it was the way his eyes were flickering between hers and her lips, or the vulnerability she felt, but as she leant forward, her eyes slipping shut as she kissed him gently, she couldn’t bring herself to care over the soft whimper that left his throat.

 

Scott turned a little, giving them both better access as he pressed his body against Saz’s, his hands immediately slipping up her arms, stroking the soft skin.

 

She trembled at the touch, this gentleness so foreign from both sides.

 

It had been _years_ since she’d last kissed someone like this, last allowed herself to be kissed. The feeling was warm and soft, her heart fluttering in her chest as Scott let out a soft moan, losing himself to the sensation.

 

But even as she tried to enjoy it, her mind was in overdrive, telling her to push him off, to _stop_ , that he’d use her, he’d hurt her, just like before.

 

Scott noticed the change, pulling back as his eyes fluttered open, looking at her with concern.

 

“Saz?”

 

“I want you,” she murmured, her brain switching to its default defence.

 

Whenever she felt threatened with emotion or beginning to open up, turning it to sex was the best way to shut it down. But Scott’s frown threw her a little, his eyes narrowing, lips tight.

 

“You’ve just had a panic attack,” he reasoned, “which was likely caused by our… call… are you… are you sure that won’t make things worse?”

 

Saz’s eyes widened, her composure slipping.

‘ _He’s pretending to care. He wants to fuck you. Nothing else. He just wants his dick in you. Ignore him,_ ’ her brain screamed, her body trembling as reason attacked the walls of her mind.

 

“It’ll distract me,” she reassured him, leaning forward again. She wanted to kiss him, and cursed herself for it as her lips slipped up to his ear, tongue flicking out against the lobe. It felt like a small victory when Scott’s body shuddered, a soft whine leaving his throat before he could stop it. “Besides,” she continued, her voice a whisper as her hands began to trail up his chest, over his shirt, “don’t you _want me_? Don’t you want to _taste me_ again? To have me ride your sweet mouth until I cum over your face?”

 

Scott moaned, tipping his head back a little as Saz’s lips moved to his neck.

 

“Don’t you want to be a good little whore for me?”

 

Scott nodded for a moment before stopping suddenly, as if catching himself. He pulled back, taking a steadying breath as deep azure eyes locked with Saz’s, searching for signs of doubt.

  
“I want to,” he admitted, “but I don’t want to push you. I don’t… If you just want to talk, if you just want to hug it out, I’m here.”

 

“But you’ve come all this way,” Saz purred, “you wouldn’t have come if you didn’t want me.”

 

Scott pulled back as if he’d been slapped, his face looking almost crestfallen.

“Is _that_ what you think of me?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper. His tone, his posture had changed, suddenly stoic and almost angry. “You think I came all this way, because I had a call from you barely able to breathe and _begging for help_ because I wanted to _fuck you_?”

  
Saz’s mind was still spinning, looking for a twist, looking to make his motives seem darker when he stood, moving back with his hands raised to his chest, eyes full of hurt.

 

“That’s not _me_ , Saz,” he said, voice soft but shaking, emotion in every word. “I’d never… I don’t hurt people, I… If you want to fuck someone right now, if you want to hide behind all of this, that’s… I’d be jealous, sure, but it’s your call, but… I… I can’t do this. I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay, not… I never even _thought_ about it, I just… came.”

 

His voice held such hurt that, for a brief moment, Saz felt guilt bubbling in her chest. He had to be lying.  


“No-one does that,” she retorted sharply. “No-one goes out of their way just to make sure someone is alright. Everyone wants something.”

 

Scott’s expression went from appalled to horrified in a matter of seconds, the look on his face striking Saz in the chest; it was so out of place on his strong features, and regret hit her like a tonne of bricks.

  
“If that’s what you think, then I’ll leave,” he said sternly, eyes shining now. “I care about you, Saz, but… If you think I’m here just to fuck you, if you think I…” He drew a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “I didn’t even tell anyone where I was going. I just came, because I care, because when I heard you, I… I just wanted to help. I’ll… I’m just gonna go, it’s… probably for the best, and…”

  
Scott turned as he spoke, heading towards the door.

  
Panic suddenly rose up in Saz’s chest, along with a feeling she hadn’t experienced in some time, something warm bubbling just beneath the skin, pleasant and unfamiliar, but one that reached her brain and made her call to him.

  
“No!”

Scott froze, stopping in his turn as he looked at her, such hope in his eyes that it made her chest physically ache. He was so emotive, so easy to read. If there were any bad intentions, they would be written, plain as day on his face, she mused. But all she saw was hurt, hope and understanding, and that almost made it worse.

 

“I… I don’t want you to… to leave,” she admitted, struggling to find the words.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” Scott replied quickly, “I refuse. I’d never take advantage of you, and…”

“You’re not,” Saz interjected, frowning a little. “I…”

Scott’s disbelieving look threw her a little, her chest constricting.

“You’ve been hurt, I know,” Scott sighed, shoulders slumping as he made his way back over to her, noting the shocked look in her eyes. “And before you ask, no-one told me. I can just… I’ve seen people close to me get hurt, and I know the way they coped wasn’t always the best. So…”

“If you’re expecting me to spill my heart out to you, cry it out and ride off into the sunset with you, you’re going to be _sorely_ disappointed,” Saz chuckled mirthlessly, ignoring the frown she got in response.

“I’m not a psych,” Scott protested, a little petulantly. “I’m not going to click my fingers and make everything better, I know that, and I’m not expecting you to be magically in love with me and everything to be healed, but… I want to help. Whatever that entails.”

“But you won’t fuck me?” Saz huffed, knowing full well she was baiting him.

 

Scott recognised it instantly. Growing up with four brothers, he’d learned quickly, as the oldest and the one who inevitably got punished, that taking said bait was _never_ a good idea.

“I’m here because you had a panic attack and I was worried for you,” Scott said, voice low and forced with calm tones. “I’m here because I _care_. Not because I want anything from you. Hell, if… _that_ never happened again, I wouldn’t push it. I mean, I’d be like, so bummed, but… I’d get over it.”  
  


Saz’s bark of laughter almost made him jump, her face suddenly creased in laughter as she curled into herself, bringing her legs up to her chest and trying desperately to regain her composure.

“Why are you laughing at me?” Scott demanded, unable to fight the smile which twitched at his lips. Her laughter was light and infectious, tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

He looked at her expectantly as she fought back tears, taking a breath as if to speak a couple of times, only to lose her composure once more and erupt into fresh giggles. After a few minutes and Scott sighing, she finally looked up, still chuckling softly, clearing her throat as she fought to get out one word.

  
She barely managed it before erupting with laughter again.

  
“ _Bummed_!”

  
The pilot raised an eyebrow, fighting back his own giggles.  


“Bummed?” he repeated. Confused. “Like, upset, down, pissed.”

“Yeah,” Saz nodded, her words still choked with amusement, “but _here_ , bummed is like… fucked up the ass, so, kind of fitting.”

  
Scott’s face erupted in a bright shade of red, his eyes dropping to his lap as he processed the embarrassment, trying to regain some control over the conversation.

  
“That’s _not_ what I meant, and you know it,” he chastised her gently, unable to be too angry with the older woman now she had a grin back on her face and seemed to be coming back to herself a little.

  
“Still, funny,” she retorted, her breathing calming back down to normal. “I am sorry, though. Completely off topic.”

  
“At least you smiled,” Scott offered, looking back to her.

 

Saz’s expression immediately change to one Scott couldn’t place.

“You’d really give up _that_ , even though you enjoyed it, to stop me from… to make sure I didn’t get used?” she asked, voice small now.

  
Scott nodded quickly.

  
“In a heartbeat,” he breathed. “It’s _kind of_ my job to make sure people don’t get hurt.”

  
“And what about _you_?” Saz asked, her gaze snapping back up to Scott’s, ivy green eyes intense as they locked on his. “What about _your_ happiness? Don’t you want this? I thought you enjoyed it?”

  
Scott swallowed hard, forcing a smile to his lips. The motion made Saz’s heart clench, how easy it was pressed there, as if practised over many years.

  
“I guess that, in this line of work, foregoing happiness kind of becomes second nature,” he admitted with a sad chuckle. “I mean, it’s kind of what we do. We go in, we fix things, we leave. Being too involved is too dangerous, so… we just kind of coast through it all.”

  
“Never being close to anyone?” she asked, a little taken aback. “That must be difficult for you.”

Scott gave her a questioning look.

“How’d you figure that?”

  
“Because…” Saz began, trying to pick her words carefully, “you have so much love to give. I can tell that, even from knowing you in the time I have. You’re caring and… you’re _incredibly_ pent up and you’re latching onto the first person to show you affection and…”

  
“That’s _not_ what I’m doing,” Scott protested, frowning at her.

  
“Not that I don’t appreciate it, Scott, but you’ve just flown one of the most highly advanced pieces of rescue technology in the world to here because I had a panic attack… like, that’s a little OTT, don’t you think?”

  
“Now you sound like John,” Scott mumbled, crossing his arms across his chest defensively. “Look, I came because I was concerned. If you want me to butt out, if you want me to end this, just tell me and I’ll go.”

  
Saz was a little taken aback but recovered quickly; the ultimatums were not foreign to her, and she understood a negotiating situation when she saw one, even if Scott did not realise that’s what he was doing.

  
“So what do you think this is?” she asked, voice calm now. She was recovering herself quickly, and felt more in control.

  
Scott sighed, shaking his head.

  
“I… I don’t know,” he admitted. “Like, I feel guilty for this, I do, like I’m… using you. I…”

  
“You’re using _me_?” Saz asked, thrown by his answer. “After everything I’ve done to you, everything you let me do, you think _you’re_ the one using _me_?”

  
Scott nodded, a little solemnly.

  
“Like, at first, I thought it might be because of what me and Virgil did, the whole ‘saving the company’ thing,” he murmured, “like, some kind of ‘thank you’. But… I kind of hoped that… you know what, it’s dumb,” he chuckled, trying to laugh off the situation.

  
But Saz didn’t miss the hurt that flashed in his eyes, nor did she ignore it.

  
“It’s not _dumb_ ,” she chastised him, “and, for the record, the reason I… I like you, Scott. More than I should. And, that’s why I… I wouldn’t have done anything if I didn’t want to.”

  
The hope that flashed across Scott’s face made her stomach twist, her mind still screaming at her to run while she could, that this wasn’t a good idea. But her heart was pulling at her, desperate to finally break down the walls built around it.

  
“I mean, if you wanted me, more, I mean, more,” Scott corrected himself, shaking his head at the slip up, “I’m… I want to explore that with you but… maybe _after_ you’ve eaten your pancakes?” he smiled, nodding to the breakfast tray. “I think they’re getting cold.”

  
Saz regarded the food, her stomach rumbling in response.

 

“I… I guess I could eat,” she admitted with a soft smile in return.

  
“And maybe after, I could?” Scott offered, his awkward flirting rather endearing.

  
Saz gave him a knowing grin, nodding.

 

“We’ll see how it goes.”

  
Scott grinned at her, the expression fading as his comm vibrated in his pocket, interrupting the moment.

  
The pilot pulled it out, rolling his eyes when he saw the orange light emanating from it.

  
“I have to take this,” he sighed, waving the comm at Saz. “You eat, I’ll be back in a moment.”

  
Saz watched him go with a soft sigh, the door pulled shut behind him as he answered his comm. Reluctantly moving, she grabbed the tray he’d provided and pulled it onto her lap, looking the pancakes over.

  
They looked almost too good to eat, picture perfect, fluffy and delicious. Taking up the knife and fork placed beside it, she gently cut through the fluffy layers, taking one of the top bits with the dribbled honey and strawberries on it and popped it into her mouth.

  
Her eyes immediately went wide; they were the best pancakes, possibly the best _food_ she’d ever tasted.

  
Had she not had a mouthful of food, her jaw might have hit the floor.

  
So he was sweet, caring, smart, brave _and_ could cook?

  
She was so screwed.

  
  



	48. Chapter 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phone calls, tension and an invitation...

John was fiddling, and fiddling, EOS knew, was not a good sign.

As the call connection rang and rang and rang, waiting for Scott to answer, he was growing visibly irritated.

It had been seven hours since Virgil’s message regarding the purpose of Scott’s visit, and John hadn’t slept that entire time, his mind racing. Every moment he was expecting some huge emergency, some place that Thunderbird 1 would be needed, only to not be able to contact him.

 

There was a part of him that almost wished that  _ had _ happened, even though he knew it was wrong. He just wanted Scott to see how selfish he was being, how stupid it was of him to run off like this.

It was another few moments before the comm lit up, the connection made, and Scott’s figure appeared on screen, face a little flushed, hair askew and eyes bright.

 

“Hey, John,” he greeted his sibling, tone sheepishly, “look, before you start…”

“Do I need to come punch you again?” John snapped, an odd sense of relief mixing with the anger he felt, “Because I’ll come punch you again.”

Scott’s eyes went wide for a moment before his face broke into a soft smile, grateful he wasn’t being instantly chewed out.

“I am sorry, for what it’s worth,” Scott admitted, “Gordon heard the call I got and I thought he would have told you.”

 

John rolled his eyes, gaze darting briefly across the monitors in front of him.

“Yeah, Gordon was on a private line to Lady P for about three hours after you left, then he must have fallen asleep,” he sighed. “Do I have to remind you  _ not _ to rely on him to pass along information? You really scared us, Scott.”

“Lady P?” Scott asked, distracted, “As in Penny?”

“Yeah,” John sighed, noting his avoidance, “there’s been a serious uptick in comms traffic recently.”

“You don’t think…” Scott began, stopping when John frowned at him.

“Given your current situation, I don’t think you’re in  _ any _ position to question his relationships,” he chastised him. Scott had the good graces to look guilty, dipping his head a little.

“Yeah, I guess,” he murmured. “Just… Gordon’s sweet, but…”

 

“Scott,” John warned him sternly, the oldest sighing in reply.

“Fine, fine,” he waved him off, “I’m not getting involved. Promise.”

“Good,” John nodded, satisfied. “So, any idea when you’ll be back?”

 

Scott sighed, shaking his head.

“Not sure at the moment,” he admitted, feeling guilty. “I’ll try and be back in a few hours. Just need to… finish up here.”

“Ugh, that had better  _ not _ be innuendo,” John grimaced, shaking his head.

“What?” Scott asked, wide eyed, “no! No, John, I’m not… never mind, I’m just… I’m gonna go, okay? I promise, I won’t turn my comm off again, okay?”

 

“You’d better not, or Virgil will have your head. He was so pissed last night he didn’t even call me back after he spoke to you, just sent me a message,” John chuckled quietly, his demeanour changing when he saw Scott’s face fall a little. “Oh, Scott, no,” he moaned, “please,  _ please _ tell me you didn’t upset him too…”

Memories of his words to Virgil assaulted Scott’s mind, regret rising like bile in his throat. 

 

He was opening his mouth to respond when a huge bang at the bottom of the stairs caught his attention.

“John, I’ve got to go,” he hissed, eyes darting around, looking for a place to take cover.

 

“What was that? Scott, what’s going…” John’s comm was cut off as Scott slammed his shut, pocketing it quickly. Behind him, Saz came to the bedroom door, peering around it with her comm clutched tightly in one hand.

 

“What’s going on?” she whispered, eyes wide, fear obvious. Scott held a finger to his lips, indicating for her to remain quiet. 

“Go back inside, lock the door and don’t unlock it until you know it’s me, okay?”

 

Another crash from downstairs, followed by a string of curses made them both jump as Saz stared at him reluctantly.

“Don’t,” she pleaded, “come in here, where it’s safe. I’ll lock the door and call someone.”

Scott looked back to the source of the noise, a sharp inhale of breath catching him as Saz left the room, coming to him and grabbing his arm.

“Scott,  _ please _ ! You have  _ no _ idea, some of the people we deal with… what if it’s someone of Laughlin’s? Please, just come in here, I’ll call Teddy, okay?”

“Will he be here in time?” Scott asked, his mind wandering to Thunderbird 1 where she sat across from the house. They would  _ had _ to have known he was here.

 

The footsteps at the bottom of the hall got closer, padding towards the stairs with purpose. 

Scott looked back to Saz, the fear in her eyes more pronounced now, sending a chill through him. Relenting, he turned back towards the room, ushering her back inside, taking in just how vulnerable she was right now. Still wrapped in nothing but a duvet, his brain was screaming one word;

 

_ Protect, protect, protect _ .

 

The relief on her face was almost palpable, her hands gripping Scott’s wrist as he closed the door behind them, locking it.

“Where’s the safest place in here?” he asked quietly, watching as Saz nodded towards the walk in wardrobe.

“It’s got my valuables in it,” she explained quickly, “so it’s fingerprint locked on both sides.”

“Perfect,” Scott nodded, urging her towards it. “Come on, let’s get in.”

 

“Did you see them?” Saz asked as she unlocked the door, both flinching at the loud beep it emitted.

Scott shook his head in lieu of answering, desperate to get Saz out of danger.

She noted his urgency, dragging the duvet up around herself as she pushed into the closet; it wasn’t a small space exactly, but as Scott entered behind her, pulling the door closed, she found herself pressed against him, his arms winding around her for lack of anywhere else to go.

 

Even with the fear coursing through her body, her mind spinning as she desperately tried to think of who might be in her house, she found herself leaning into him, comforted by his presence, even more so when he pulled her tight against him, eyes focused on hers as he drew back, sincerity in his gaze.

“No matter what happens,” he breathed, “protect yourself. If they find us, I’ll draw them off.”

Saz gazed up at him, her heart fluttering with more than just fear. She had no idea what possessed her as she leant forward, pressing her lips against Scott’s, trying to portray exactly how thankful she was to have him there, with her in that moment.

 

But she was glad for the kiss as the door to her bedroom was thrown open, the noise making her jump, the squeak she emitted only muffled by Scott’s lips as he held her close, breaking the kiss to look at the door defiantly.

“I’m calling Teddy,” Saz whispered to him, bringing her comm up between them. As quietly as she could, she tapped in his number, eyes darting back between the comm and the door as she pressed call.

 

Scott held his breath, listening carefully as the stranger on the other side moved around the room, their footsteps slow, deliberate as they searched.

 

Suddenly, a shrill guitar squeal cut through the silence. Saz gasped, a frown crossing her face.

 

“Terrence Archibald Parks!” she yelled, Scott jumping at the volume and tone of her voice.

“Saz? You in the closet again?” a deep, familiar voice sounded from outside, Saz huffing as she pushed away from Scott, unlocking the door.

 

She stumbled over the duvet a little as she slammed the door open, revealing Teddy on the other side, a metal bat in hand, eyes wide with shock as he regarded them both.

“What the  _ hell _ are you doing in my house?” she asked, eyes narrowed at the huge man as a grin split his face, eyes darting between the furious, underdressed redhead and Scott in the closet where he still stood, looking alarmed.

 

“Your alarm went off, said someone had broken in,” Teddy smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. “Didn’t think you were one to enjoy getting your back door smashed in.”

Saz huffed, expression furious as she blushed bright red.

“I…” she began, trying to think of some excuse, some way to get out of this without her admitting she’d had a moment of weakness.

 

“I broke the door,” Scott offered, finally stepping out of the cupboard, trying to ignore the delighted look on Teddy’s face. Tycho would  _ definitely _ be hearing about this later, he was  _ sure _ , which mean that Virgil likely would too. “Saz lost her keys and got locked out last night, and I was heading back from a rescue, so I…”

“He came and let me in,” Saz finished for him, trying not to let the relief she felt slip into her voice, “and before you ask, Ted, I was drunk and forgot about the spare under the flowerpot.”

“ _ You _ were drunk?” Teddy asked with a chuckle, quite obviously not buying it.

 

Saz flushed again.

“Yeah, that was, uh… sort of my fault too,” Scott lied, acting sheepish. “I… I wanted to thank her for the press release and her help with it and I… I may have been a little too… encouraging.”

 

Teddy’s demeanour suddenly changed a little, his chest puffing out as he looked at Saz, expression serious.

“He get you drunk?” he asked, no joviality in his voice this time, “Did he lay his hands on you when you were?”

 

Both Scott and Saz’s eyes went wide.

“What, no!” Saz said immediately, realising where he was going. “I… he didn’t lay his hands on me, I…”

“Saz, don’t lie to me,” Teddy warned, an edge to his voice that sent a shiver through Scott. The larger man suddenly moved, putting himself between him and Saz, shoulders hunched, his entire posture intimidating as he turned to face him. “That your thing?” he asked sharply, “Getting women drunk then taking advantage, because you’re some famous person?”

Scott looked like a deer in the headlights, brain failing to provide any coherent response as Teddy took a step towards him, the accusation still spinning in his mind.

“I… no, I… I didn’t.”

 

“He didn’t touch me, Ted,” Saz barked from behind him, “nothing happened.”

“Then why are you naked?” Teddy countered, looking back to her. Saz blushed, pulling the duvet tighter around her, feeling very exposed.

“Because…” Scott began, trying to cover for her again.

“Shut it!” Teddy bellowed, the room silenced by his command, the authority he held in that moment unchallenged. “I want to hear it from  _ her _ .”

 

Saz sighed, shaking like a leaf.

“I… I had a panic attack, okay?” she admitted quietly, defeated. Her shoulders hunched as she gave a long exhale, feeling more than a little humiliated. “I freaked out and called Scott, and he came. He was just… he was trying to cover for me. He was being…” she looked at Scott, guilt running through her at the fear still written on his face, “kind. He’s been nothing but kind. That’s all. Got it?”

Teddy’s shoulders relaxed a little, his face softening as he looked to Scott, shaking his head.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked, voice a little sad. “Saz, for fucks sake. I nearly made him shit himself, look at the poor thing.”

 

Scott frowned, his heart still hammering in his ears, body feeling like he’d run a mile, wanting say something but not finding the words.

“I…”

“Ted, shut up,” Saz sighed shaking her head. Scott felt a pang in his chest as he looked at her, still looking far too vulnerable. “I didn’t want to tell you because I  _ knew _ you’d freak out too,” she admitted, a little sheepish. “And I was getting there until… until you came here and I thought…”

Teddy’s face grew serious again, his hands twitching as if he wanted to give her a hug but was unsure about the situation.

 

“You,” he said, turning to Scott who jumped a little, cursing himself internally at the action. “You came, the second she called?”

Scott nodded, still unsure.

“As fast as I could,” he confirmed, unable to stop the nervous smile that rose to his lips. “Didn’t even get suited or anything,” he chuckled, gesturing down at his civilian clothing.

 

Teddy nodded, expression unreadable as he turned back to Saz.

 

“I know you’re fucking him,” he admitted, nodding towards Scott. Saz’s eyes grew wide, a fresh flush rising to her cheeks. “But I’m glad it’s him. He’s a good one.”

“You were threatening to kill him thirty seconds ago!” Saz countered, glaring at the larger man.

 

“Yeah, but since then, you’ve said he covered for you and came right here when he needed you. Sounds like a good one to me. Besides,” he said, voice dropping in volume as he slid towards Saz, a grin lighting up his face as he mock whispered to her, “he’s a bit of alright, ain’t he?”

Saz fought the grin that rose to her face along with a brighter blush as she slapped Teddy on the arm, eyes flickering over Scott’s body, pointedly avoiding his face.

“I hate you,” she groaned, pushing the larger man away.

 

Teddy chuckled as he let her push him, stumbling a little as he made his way over to Scott, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

Scott, for his part, was still stood stock still, trying to process everything as it happened, his brain playing catch up and doing a rather poor job of it.

 

“Yeah, Scotty boy, you’re alright,” Teddy grinned at him, patting his shoulder a couple of times. Scott could only nod in response, eyes still wide, adrenaline still pumping.

Saz rolled her eyes as Teddy turned towards the door.

“So am I okay to grab a cuppa before I go or…” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I promise, I won’t bother ya. Won’t even record anything I hear from downstairs.”

 

“Whatever,” Saz sighed, trying not to smile at him. As annoyed as she was, she adored Teddy, and was rather touched he’d come all the way from London just because her alarm had gone off.

“Taking that as a yes,” he chuckled, eyes alight with mischief once again. “And Saz?” he called as he left the room, grin still plastered on his face.

“What, Ted?” she responded with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in mock irritation.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Teddy offered, voice softer now. “I was worried when the alarm went.”

 

Saz nodded, sighing again.

“Me too,” she admitted, offering Scott a soft smile as she moved her hand away from her face, drawing the duvet back up around herself. “Thank you for coming.”

“No problem,” the larger man laughed as he trudged back down the hall, making a beeline for the kitchen and the coffee within.

 

As soon as he was out of sight down the hallway, Saz breathed a sigh of relief, turning to Scott, failing to fight a soft laugh as she looked him over, still stood stock still and wide eyed, trying to figure out the situation.

 

“What… what just happened?” he asked finally, meeting her gaze.

Saz smiled fondly at him, shaking her head.

“ _ Teddy _ happened,” she chuckled, moving over to Scott and, unthinking, lacing her fingers with his, their hands dangling between them. “Are you okay?”

Scott nodded, a little too fast to be a thought out response. Saz smiled at him, her hands shaking as she looked down on them, linked with his.

 

His hands were so big compared to hers, and a sudden wave of affection tinged with arousal flooded through her.

Teddy was right; he’d come to her aid, without hesitation, more than once. She was safe with him, and, for the first time in a long time, she felt comfortable in herself, stood, almost naked with him, their hands linked as she smiled up at him, waiting for him to process.

 

“He knows,” Scott said, a little dumbly. Saz bit her lip, nodding.

“He does,” she confirmed, “but he won’t tell anyone. He’s not like that.”

“Not even Tycho?” Scott asked, his concern apparent.

Saz smirked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Worried your brother’s going to find out?” she teased, relieved when Scott smiled back at her, his face a little flushed.

“About you fucking me?” he asked with a soft laugh. “Well, I never got round to tell you how my poor baby brother got scarred for life when he opened the box of toys I bought.”

 

Saz’s eyes went wide, lips parting into a toothy grin.

“He  _ didn’t _ !” she giggled, eyes searching Scott’s face for any sign of deception.

“He’s not going to be stealing my packages ever again, that’s for sure,” Scott sighed, shaking his head. “That and Gordon’s figured it out. Saw me… limping.”

Saz smiled, a wicked tinge to the action that send a thrill of arousal straight to Scott’s groin.

“Gordon?” she asked, trying to distract herself from the darkening look in Scott’s eyes. He’d made it clear he didn’t want to take advantage of her, and she didn’t want to push it, even if that wasn’t the case at all.

“Second youngest,” Scott explained, his fingers squeezing hers gently where their hands remained linked. “I’ll make you a list one day. There’s a few of us.”

“Five, right?” Saz asked, genuine curiosity fuelling her questioning. Scott nodded, giving her an odd look.

 

“Let me guess, you’ve searched for us on the internet?” he asked, voice tinged with something that sounded akin to exhaustion. 

Saz nodded, a little hesitant.

Scott forced a smile, shaking his head.

 

“Don’t believe everything you read,” he chuckled softly. “Half of the things people say we’ve done aren’t true.”

Saz hesitated. She  _ had _ read some interesting things about them all, but didn’t want to pry too much.

 

“So you  _ didn’t _ single handedly take down an active shooter on the base you were stationed at?” she sighed with mock disappointment. “Such a shame.”

“Oh,  _ that _ , that’s true,” Scott chuckled nervously, noting the fear that crossed her face. “It wasn’t… he was just coming out of the armoury. I spotted him and… he never even got a chance to aim. Only got two shots off before… yeah, it wasn’t what people think it was. And only  _ one _ of them hit me. And only in the shoulder.”

Saz shook her head in disbelief, trying to think of a way to explain just how amazed she was by him in that moment.

 

“You… you have  _ no idea _ how incredible you are, do you?” she breathed. The words left her lips before she could stop them, but they were from the heart. Scott flushed, shaking his head.

“Naw,” he said, almost automatically, unlinked their hands to rub at the back of his neck. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

 

“You…” Saz began, taking a breath before she continued, seeing how uncomfortable Scott was with the praise. She was beginning to get the feeling it was something he’d been denied, and didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “I think it was  _ incredibly _ brave,” she offered, noting how his cheeks flushed brighter.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, eyes darting down to look at his feet.

 

“There’s so much I don’t know about you,” Saz admitted, reaching for his hands again. Scott allowed them to be taken, smiling back up at her with a look that was almost  _ too _ innocent. “Will you… do you mind telling me?”

There was a moment, and Saz didn’t miss it, where Scott hesitated, his eyes flickering with doubt. But with that doubt, she saw pain, uncertainty and fear, and she almost regretted asking the question. 

 

Almost, until Scott’s grip on her hands tightened, a smile curving his lips, accentuating his features and soft words that took a moment to register escaped him.

“It would be easier to show you, if… If you’ll come with me?”

After the shock had passed, Saz found herself nodding as Scott continued, his voice shaking.

“I mean, only if you  _ want _ to… And I can pay for the repairs to the door and, you know, while it’s replaced, and, the statement and… you know, if this is gonna be a merger, you need to meet our GDF contacts and...”

“I’d love to,” Saz grinned, feeling a little giddy, even against the nagging fear that lingered in her gut. “I… yes.”

 

A childlike smile spread across Scott’s face, lit up with hope and happiness, and suddenly, he looked five years younger and Saz couldn’t help but smile back, his joy infectious.

“Well, I, uh, you sure? Because, ya know, brothers,” Scott shrugged, the smile still planted on his face, “and, it can be overwhelming but, you know, we can… it doesn’t have to be for long, but I…”

“Scott, I said yes,” Saz chuckled softly, “and it’ll be fine. I deal with petulant clients day in, day out. I  _ think _ I can handle your brothers.”

“I guess we’ll find out, huh?” Scott smiled, his smile still giddy and adorable. 

 

She wasn’t sure whether it was the come down from the panic she’d experienced, the fear and adrenaline coursing through her or the fact that she couldn’t pretend the attraction wasn’t there any more, but whatever it was, Saz didn’t care as she leant forward, capturing Scott’s lips in a gentle kiss.

There was nothing sexual about it, nothing pressing, and for the first time in a long time, she felt wanted, especially as his hands left hers, wrapping around her and clutching her close.

“I’ll pack a bag,” Saz grinned, pulling away from him. “ _ You _ get to go tell Teddy.”

 

Her laughter echoed down the hallway as Scott’s eyes widened.

 

“Y-yes, m’am,” he swallowed, looking towards the door with apprehension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your ongoing patience. I'm getting over some stuff but definitely getting there!
> 
> Off to Bloodstock festival next week so going to be quiet for a little bit but hopefully get back on it soon!
> 
> So close to 50 chapters I can taste it! :)


	49. Chapter 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Tycho's birthday morning and Virgil is nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for huge amounts of fluff XD
> 
> Sorry for the delay, but, WE'RE NEARLY AT 50 CHAPTERS HOLY HECK!
> 
> Hope everyone is still enjoying this, I'm not sure if this is the halfway point or what but this story is turning into a proper novel XD
> 
> Thanks again for all the support. Love you all and every comment means the world to me! <3

Virgil’s heart was pounding in his ears, fingers shaking as they twiddled nervously in his lap.   
  


Tycho, Ami and Tomas were all still asleep, with it being nearly 9am as he sat on one of the kitchen chairs he’d dragged (with some difficulty) in to the middle of the room.

  
He knew he’d left a delivery note not to ring the doorbell, but his nerves were still on fire, sweat beginning to bead on his brow.

  
Internally cursing himself for leaving things so late, he pulled out his comm from his jeans pocket, checking the time again. 8:47.

Hissing with frustration through gritted teeth, he bounced his good leg against the chair, wishing he had some information other than ‘out for delivery’ displayed before him. 

 

He’d paid an extra fifty dollars to ensure Tycho’s gift would be here on time, before 9am. He was also nervous, having added an extra present for Ami onto the order, last minute. He just hoped he’d got it right.

 

A soft knock on the door made him jump, a smile rising, unbidden across his lips as he grabbed his crutch from where it leant against the chair, hobbling as quickly and quietly as he could over to it, opening it softly.

On the other side, he was greeted with a young delivery driver who identified himself as Jake, blonde hair spiked up at all angles and his face flushed red, apologising for the delay and blaming traffic.

 

Virgil gave him an understanding smile as he took the boxes he had from him, carefully placing them on the ground by the door and signing for everything.

Even as Jake continued to apologise profusely, all of his focus was on the gifts and remaining as quiet as possible, thanking the young man in all but a whisper as he closed the door with a soft click, turning with a sigh of relief.

 

But that relief was short lived as the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him made his heart clench, eyes wide with fear as he turned, finding Ami stood behind him, an amused smile on her face.

  
“Whatcha doin’?”

  
Virgil inhaled sharply, nearly dropping the small box he held, the last thing he’d taken from Jake before he’d closed the door.

“Holy  _ shit _ , Ami, you scared me!” he chastised her as she grinned behind him, looking mischievous and somehow younger after a night of good rest.

“Heard you creeping about,” she admitted with a shrug, cocking her head a little to look at the packages piled up by the door. The action was so much like Tycho, Virgil’s heart fluttered a little as his thoughts drifted to his lover, still sleeping in the bedroom. 

 

“Whatcha got there, then?” Ami asked, taking a step towards Virgil, nodding at the packages.

“Oh, I… um…” Virgil began, shifting on his crutches as he lay the little box down, instead grabbing the larger of the three parcels which remained, shuffling it up under his arm as he turned back to Ami before offering it to her with a soft smile. “Happy birthday?” he offered, a little apprehensively.

 

Ami looked stunned, her eyes widening as she froze to the spot, mouth dropping open a little.

“You…” she began, her mind spinning. “You got me… you didn’t have to!” she breathed, staring at the box.

 

“It’s nothing huge,” Virgil reassured her, “and I hope you like it but… I just wanted to…”

“You bought him presents?” Ami asked with a soft laugh, one that had an edge of fondness which touched Virgil, a smile crossing his face once more.

“Of course,” he smiled, “and you too. Can’t leave you out, can I?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t  _ dare _ ,” Ami chuckled, reaching, a little hesitantly for the box. “But, seriously, V, you didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Virgil protested with a wink. “You’re important to Ty, and he’s important to me, so…”

 

“I get it, I get it,” Ami nodded, still smiling, a little absently at the box. She played with it in her hands for a moment before a sigh escaped her, the smile on her face turning from mirthful to watery. “You… You’re gonna think I’m some sob story,” she laughed softly as tears gathered in her eyes, “but… besides family… you know, you’re the first person who’s ever bought me something for my birthday?”

Virgil looked a little taken aback, shaking his head automatically.

“That’s…”

 

“Everyone always sees Ty,” she explained, eyes still fixed on the box in her hands, “and it’s not like I can blame them, because, you know, genius,” she laughed, “but… I was always kind of… invisible, when he was around. Even with all those people, all these contracts, all his workmates... and I got used to it. But…” she looked up at Virgil, tears slipping down her cheeks as she smiled, a genuine action that lit up her face, “you don’t miss  _ anything _ , do you? You’re… you’re a special one, V.”

 

“Ami,” Virgil began, wanting to comfort her. But before he even took a step, her hand was raised, placating him. 

“Ignore me,” she laughed softly, “just being dramatic. But… thank you. Really. You have, _no_ _idea_ how much this means.”

Virgil smiled softly, feeling a little awkward, when all he wanted to do was move to her, to give her a hug, comfort her as she’d done to him last night.

“You’re more than welcome, and you’d better get used to it,” he chuckled, “with us,  _ no-one _ gets left out.”

Ami laughed, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand as she waved a finger good naturedly at Virgil.

“Seriously, you,” she grinned, “brothers. I want names.”

 

Virgil smiled back at her, his expression turning apprehensive as he watched her open the box, a childlike eagerness to her actions now.

 

Trembling fingers slipped under the seal opening the box, and although she may have tried to hide it, Virgil didn’t miss the delighted gasp that left her as her eyes widened and her hand dipped inside, bringing out a long, embroidered wrap of material, a pastel blue green in colour and embroidered with delicate swirls, planets and stars. 

Holding her breath, Ami unfurled the material, finding a small box rolled up the middle. She carefully took it out, putting the material over her shoulder as she opened it, revealing a small pendant inside, a heart with a tiny footprint on it and an engraving, ‘Tomas & Ami’ in cursive script across it’s surface.

 

She took a deep, shuddering breath as she looked up to Virgil, fresh tears in her eyes.

“It’s… beautiful,” she croaked, emotion cracking her voice, “I… thank you.”

Virgil smiled weakly at her, feeling almost guilty to have caused this display of emotion.

“The, uh, the material thing? It’s a sling, too,” he explained softly as she turned her head to it in interest, “so you can, like, wear Tomas, carry him instead of having a pushchair or whatever, keep your hands free, and the benefits of…”

“You are too sweet,” Ami cut him off, sniffing audibly as tears rolled down her cheeks, “you… Virgil, I… I don’t know what to say,” she admitted, chuckling softly as she put both the sling and the pendant back in the box before moving towards him, arms open. 

 

Virgil hesitated for a moment before Ami wrapped him up in a hug, pressing her head against his shoulder.

“Ty did good,” she smiled into him, sighing as he hugged her back, “and, seriously… you didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Virgil protested, rubbing his hand across her back in a comforting way, “it’s your birthday.”

“It is,” she replied, a little uselessly as the click of a door behind them made them draw apart, Ami still sniffing and losing the fight against the tears.

 

“Morning,” Tycho called, looking between them, a little uncertain. Pulling his dressing gown tightly around him, his hair was still askew, eyes bleary under his glasses as the remnants of sleep fell from them. Ami smiled at him over Virgil’s shoulder.

“Your boyfriend bought me a present,” she chuckled softly, moving past the pilot to her brother and embracing him tightly. “Happy birthday, love.”

 

Tycho wrapped his arms around Ami, holding her close, but his eyes were fixed on Virgil, wonder, disbelief and adoration all mixing into tears that built up there.

“Happy birthday, chick,” he smiled, the gesture softening his features. Virgil breathed a sigh of relief as they pulled apart, both turning back to Virgil. “What did he get you?” Tycho asked, still grinning.

“Never mind that,” Ami shook her head, giggling, “I want to see what he got  _ you _ !”

 

A cry from Tycho’s room suddenly drew their attention, the sound of Tomas stirring from his sleep.

Ami smiled at both of them, immediately heading for the door.

“I’ll get the monster,” she joked softly, patting Tycho on the shoulder as she moved, leaving the two men looking at each other, Virgil obviously nervous.

 

“You didn’t have to get us anything,” Tycho mumbled softly, taking a step forward and embracing his lover, lips seeking his. Virgil all but melted into the kiss as his eyes fluttered shut, arms looping around the smaller man to hold him close.

“I wanted to,” he replied into the kiss, drawing back as they broke apart, a flush rising to his cheeks as Tycho watched his every move.

 

With shaking hands, the pilot bent down, picking the second box, slightly smaller than Ami’s.

He didn’t miss the way Tycho’s breath hitched, eyes focused on the gift now. The inventor seized it gently, treating as if it was so delicate that it might break if he held it too tightly.

“You’re… you shouldn’t have,” Tycho breathed, fingers slipping under the seal to open up the box.

 

Virgil watched with an equal mix of excitement and trepidation as Tycho’s eyes grew wide, focusing on the gifts inside.

“Virg,” he sighed, eyes darting over the gifts and back up to his lover, speechless.

“It’s nothing huge,” Virgil said quickly, shuffling on the spot a little, “I mean, I  _ wanted _ to get you something special, but I only found out a couple of days ago and I…”

 

His rambling was cut off as Tycho surged forward, wrapping his arms around his lover, box still in hand as he pressed his lips against Virgil’s kissing him deeply.

“I love you,” he breathed as he pulled apart, trailing his hand down Virgil’s arm and to his free hand, pulling him towards the sofa. “Come on.”

 

Virgil followed, still a little breathless from the kiss. Carefully to mind his leg, he shifted on his crutches, allowing himself to be guided to the sofa where Tycho sat, waiting for him to sit before snuggling up to him, pressing his head against his chest.

“There,” he sighed happily, “now I can relax and see what wonderful things you’ve got me.”

Virgil blushed a little, smiling awkwardly.

 

“They’re not huge, I just…”

“Hush,” Tycho soothed him, leaning up to peck him on the lips, “I don’t expect the world.”

“But I’d give it to you, if I could,” Virgil responded without missing a beat, Tycho’s eyes beginning to swim a little again.

“I love you,” he breathed, gaze dancing over his lovers face, wondering if it would be entirely appropriate to excuse themselves the moment Ami appeared again and have some more alone time.

“Love you too,” Virgil whimpered, feeling the same. He wanted nothing more than to have Tycho underneath him, crying out his name as he sank deep inside him, and the thought was stirring his cock’s interest.

 

Tycho seemed to notice, his eyebrow quirking as he felt Virgil’s flesh hardening, his own body beginning to race with desire.

“Naughty, naughty,” he chastised him playfully, knowing he shouldn’t push it.

Virgil flushed brighter, clearing his throat.

“Look at your present before I fuck you in front of your sister,” he growled, trying to keep control of his impulses.

“Kinky,” Tycho giggled, letting out a fake hurt cry when Virgil slapped his leg. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing.”

“You’d better,” Virgil said, his voice low and sultry, “because if you don’t,” he continued, his lips trailing to Tycho’s ear, hot breath fluttering against the sensitive skin and causing the older man to shudder, “there’s no telling what I’ll do.”

 

“Holy  _ fuck _ , you’re hot,” Tycho chuckled, pupils blown wide. Virgil laughed softly, shuffling back a bit to allow Tycho to settle again. “I am  _ so _ having you tonight, one way or another.”

“Oh, you will,” Virgil smirked, the shocked look on Tycho’s face as he turned to look at him priceless.

“What have you got planned?” he asked, eyes narrowing at his lover, who simply shrugged.

“You’ll see,” he grinned, pressing a soft kiss to Tycho’s head. “Now, presents.”

“Not until you’ve…” Tycho began, cut off as Ami wandered back into the room, Tomas in the sling Virgil had bought her, wrapped tightly against her chest. He was gurgling happily, looking up at her and seeming to enjoy the comfort of the new position.

 

“Oh come on, Ty, let the man have his secrets,” she giggled, walking in front of them and doing a gentle spin, showing off the sling. “So, Virgil is a genius,” she remarked, gesturing to the sling. “I’ve been wearing this for five minutes and I  _ love _ it, and, Ty, as your twin, I am legally bound to advise you to  _ marry him _ ,” she cackled as Tycho’s face went beetroot red, eyes darting away from Virgil’s.

“Ami!” he hissed, obviously embarrassed.

“If you don’t, I will,” she threatened as Tomas gurgled away, his noises happy and content.

Virgil cleared his throat, trying not to laugh.

“No offence, Ami, but you’re not exactly my type,” he offered, trying to sound sincere through his laughter. Ami rolled her eyes at him, huffing.

“Well, one of us is going to have to do it. Too good to let you get away, you are!”

 

“Ami, for the love of god, stop,” Tycho pleaded, his face still bright red. Virgil could practically feel the heat coming off of him, and was fighting every urge he had to not burst out into laughter.

“It’s okay, babe,” he tried to reassure him, “I don’t want a big ceremony.”

“Oh, stop, will you!” Tycho snapped, though there was no real malice behind it as Ami burst out laughing again.

“Which one of you is going to wear the dress? That’s the real question,” she winked at Virgil, thoroughly enjoying her brothers embarrassment.

“I think Ty would look  _ stunning _ in a dress,” Virgil laughed, his cheeks hurting now. 

 

He hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time.

“I hate you both,” Tycho muttered, shaking his head. He tried to pull away from Virgil, huffing when the larger man tightened his arm around him, holding him close.

“You  _ love _ us,” Ami laughed, looking at the box in his hand. “Besides, you’ve still got to open your present. No running away yet.”

 

Tycho grumbled, sighing as he stopped struggling against Virgil, leaning back into him.

“Can you two at  _ least _ stop ganging up on me?” he mumbled, unable to stop the smile that passed over his lips when Virgil pressed a fond kiss to his forehead.

“Oh, fine,” Ami grinned, “for now.”

 

Tycho breathed a sigh of relief, shuffling to sit up a bit more.

“I do love you both, but you’re  _ awful _ ,” he admitted with a soft chuckle as Ami sat on the end of the sofa, looking at his gift with interest.

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved her hand dismissively, “show me the goods! I want to see what he’s gotcha.”

 

Virgil was nervous again now, fidgeting as Tycho carefully unwrapped the first gift from the padding inside; a small, velvet covered box.

The inventor’s breath hitched as he turned the box over, eyes alight. He didn’t even look up at Virgil, all of his focus on the gift as he placed the outer box on his lap.

 

He held the box with an almost reverential hold as he slipped his fingers underneath the lip, opening it slowly.

Inside, resting on a padded cushion was a pendant. On first looking, it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, just a small silver disc. 

 

But as Tycho turned it over gently, his heart surged, a lump rising to his throat when he saw a combination of letters and numbers engraved on the other side.

“Is this…”

“The coordinates to the island?” Virgil finished for him, voice quivering. “Yes. And… the disc is… it will allow you to come and go as you please. No invitation needed. It lets you through security and… it shows us that you’re… family. One of us.”

 

Tears were gathering in Tycho’s eyes, his heart thundering on his chest as he reached for the necklace with trembling fingers, pulling it out and immediately placing it on his neck.

He quickly did the clasp up, looking at the tiny slip of metal as if it was the most precious thing he had ever seen.

“I will never be able to explain just how much this means to me,” Tycho said, voice shaking as his eyes finally met Virgil’s tears spilling over onto his cheeks. “That fact you’d trust me with… this is… I can’t, I…”

“It’s okay,” Virgil cooed, pulling him close, his own hands fluttering as they held his lover, a lump in his throat, “I… I want you to know how much you mean to me, even if this is so fast, I… I just feel it. And I want you near, all the time.”

 

Tycho nodded against him, his hand moving to clutch the necklace.

“You have  _ no _ idea just how amazing you are, do you?” he asked, a slight laugh to his words.

Virgil smiled, dropping a kiss to his head.

“Not as amazing as you.”

 

Tycho huffed dismissively, reaching for the boix once again.

“Still, you shouldn’t have got me anything.”

“Like I wouldn’t,” Virgil retorted, giving his lover a quick squeeze.

 

Tycho smiled fondly as he looked down into the box, fishing out the last gift inside. It was an envelope, sealed with deep purple wax. It was so beautiful, so ornate, the Tycho almost felt bad pulling it apart.

“What’s this?” he wondered aloud as Virgil fought the smile slipping over his lips.

“I, uh, wanted to do something a little… different,” Virgil mumbled, flushing red. Tycho’s interest was piqued even more, delicately pulling the seal apart and opening the envelope.

 

The gasp of shock he gave when he pulled out the invitation was so,  _ so _ worth all the time Virgil had spent on the phone on the ride over to Tycho’s a few days ago, calling in every favour he could.

“Are these… invitations to dinner at… Skytop?” Tycho asked, breathless.

Virgil nodded, a huge grin splitting his face as the older man looked up at him in wonder.

“Yup,” he smiled, trying to stop a giggle from erupting from him.

 

“But… there’s a… it’s a  _ four year _ waiting list for that place!” Tycho half shouted, pulling back to look at Virgil with a mixture of shock and awe, “it’s the most expensive place in town! The reviews are incredible and… how? How did you do this?”

“Let’s just say the owner owed me a favour,” Virgil chuckled softly, “and I’m  _ very _ persuasive.”

Tycho shook his head in disbelief before looking back at the invitations.

“This is… for tonight?”

“It is,” Virgil smiled again, his cheeks beginning to hurt. He had been so nervous that Tycho would be angry or upset, negative or turn down the offer, but the excitement the inventor was showing, his whole body practically buzzing, was settling his nerves. “At 7pm, with dinner, the show on the tower top and a night in the penthouse in the spire as well.”

 

“How?” Tycho repeated, looking stunned. “I’ve been on that waiting list for  _ three years _ and you…”

“I wanted to do something special,” Virgil explained quickly, his smile fading a little, wondering if he  _ had _ annoyed Tycho after all. “And I… I thought that…”

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m  _ thrilled _ , honestly, but…” Tycho sighed, trying to reassure him, “I just… I hope you haven’t done anything stupid for this. Like, you know, spending millions again?”

 

Virgil chuckled, shaking his head, the weight of worry falling from his shoulders as his lover smiled at him.

“Nothing that dramatic,” he reassured his lover, “when the spire first opened, there was a malfunction with the lighting systems and it caught fire. We attended, put it out, saved the building and the owner promised us a stay whenever we wanted. I just called in that favour.”

 

Tycho’s gaze shifted quickly from disbelieving to fond, to full of awe as he regarded his lover, his hand slipping forward to catch Virgil’s.

“You are… you still have  _ no _ idea how amazing you are,” he repeated, leaning forward to kiss the larger man’s cheek. Virgil couldn't hold back the shudder that ran through his body as Tycho leant up, lips brushing against the shell of his ear as his voice dropped to a sultry tone, words full of promise as he whispered into his head, “ _ but I’ll show you _ .”

“Don’t make me drag you into the bedroom,” Virgil whined softly as Tycho pulled back, his eyes dancing with mischief.

“Later,” the inventor promised, his hand releasing his lovers and moving up to fiddle with the necklace now resting on his chest. His fingers turned it around, worrying it a little as he bit his lip, thoughtful. “You really didn’t have to do this, you know,” he sighed, gaze turning a little sad. “After everything you’ve done, I never expected…”

 

He never got to finish his train of thought as Virgil moved forward, arms slipping around his smaller lover and pulling him into a passionate kiss, his need and desire clear.   
  


The sound of Ami in front of them, clearing her throat made them practically jump apart, both flushing wildly. They’d both been so wrapped up in each other, they’d almost forgotten she was there.

“Really, boys? There’s a child present,” she chuckled softly, nodding to Tomas in the sling on her chest as he wiggled around, gurgling.

“Sorry,” Tycho mumbled, flashing Virgil a look which promised him that, later, he would be showing him  _ exactly _ how grateful he was. “Just got caught up in the moment.”

“And it’s sickeningly cute,” Ami grinned, “but I  _ really _ don’t want to see my baby brother getting boned in front of me. If you don’t mind.”

  
“No problem,” Virgil chuckled, “I can hold out until tonight.”

“Virgil!” Tycho whined, flushing brighter.

 

Ami let out a bark of laughter, moving next to Virgil and clapping him on the shoulder. 

 

“Oh, V, I  _ like _ you.”

 

Tycho blushed even brighter, dipping his head a little.

“What have I done?” he murmured to himself, shaking his head. Virgil grinned, a warmth seeping through him. 

 

At least Tycho’s family seemed near normal. A giggle erupted through him, unbidden at the thought of Ami meeting his brothers and Sally… now that  _ would _ be interesting.

  
“So, Ami,” he chuckled, drawing both of the twins attention, “got any embarrassing stories of Tycho as a kid?”

 

Ami’s eyes lit up, a huge smile cracking her features.  
“You bet I do,” she giggled, pushing Virgil towards the sofa as Tycho groaned behind them, muttering curses under his breath. “Let me tell you a little story about dear little Ty and the pancake incident.”


	50. Chapter 49.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return home begins...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so so sorry for the radio silence guys!
> 
> It's been an interesting couple of months, and while this isn't a full chapter, I wanted to post something to let you know I am alive!
> 
> I'm still working away on RWI and I haven't abandoned it, though I admit to a lull now the series is on hiatus with my ideas drying up somewhat.
> 
> But I'm planning a rewatch soon, which should help me refresh, and I have big, big, BIG plans for this baby.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience and support. <3

Chapter 49.5

 

Scott’s hands were trembling as he sat at the controls of Thunderbird 1, his grip on the flight controls turning his knuckles white as he bit his bottom lip, trying hard to stop any noise escaping his lips.

In front of him, John’s hologram floating above the communication console, looking utterly unimpressed with his arms folded as he waited for his brothers response to a question he asked a good twenty seconds ago.

“Well, Scott? Are you going to answer me or not?”

“I…” Scott began, biting his bottom lip again. He couldn’t help the way his eyes darted down, gaze falling on Saz as she stared up at him with a deliciously evil glint in her eyes, her lips wrapped around the base of his cock. Her tongue was tracing intricate patterns on his hardened flesh, this game having begun the moment John had called in, demanding an update.

He knew, if he made a single noise, this would be over, and the worst punishment of all would be his embarrassment.

“You disappear, make me think you’re in trouble, don’t call _ , again _ ,” John continued, Scott nodding along far too enthusiastically.

“I, I know,” he panted, “I’m, I’m sorry,  _ fuck _ , I’m  _ so sorry _ , John,” he all but moaned, every ounce of his strength focused on keeping his hips still, to stop himself from bucking up into Saz’s mouth as she pulled off of his length slowly, slipping back down all the way far too fast, the tip of his cock touching the back of her throat.

He was going to die like this, he knew it.

“Scott, are you okay?” John asked, his tone turning concerned. “You sound like you’re in pain. Should you be flying if you’re…”

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Scott whine, “I’m… just, tired, John, I’m sorry, I’ve, I’ve got to, got to go,” he panted, the grip on the controls almost painful now as he tried to keep himself under control, “I’m coming home and, ‘l’ll, I’ll be home and, I’ll,  _ fuck _ , John, I’ll make it up to you, I  _ promise _ !”

John opened his mouth as if to respond, but Scott didn’t give him the chance, cutting off the signal with a fist slammed on the comm until.

As soon as it disconnected, Scott let out a long moan, arching a little in his seat as Saz climbed up, her mouth never leaving his cock as her hands began to roam his naked thighs, nails digging into the sensitive flesh.

“Saz,  _ Saz,  _ holy  _ fuck _ !” he mewled, throwing his head back against his seat.

 

The whine that left his lips almost had her hesitating as she pulled back, tutting at him.

“That’s  _ not _ what you’re supposed to call me, sweetheart,” she purred as Scott whined beneath her, writhing against the seat.

 

He looked so powerless, so out of control, and it was making her wetter than she could ever remember being before.

Seeing him here again, in his ship and so in control and professional (albeit without the uniform), she’d done what she wanted to do before, when he’d given her a lift home and she’d pinned him against the wall of her hallway and started all of this; the moment his call to his brother had connected, she’d got on her knees and begun undressing him, much to his shock.

 

But one look had him behaving, the perfect sub as he’d always been for her. He was just too perfect, she mused as she flicked her tongue against the head of his throbbing cock, grinning at the whimper it drew from him.

 

“M-mistress,” he cried, “mistress! I’m, I’m sorry, just,  _ fuck _ , please,  _ please _ , I, I need it, I…”

Scott let out a long whine as Saz sank back onto his cock, the flesh throbbing against her tongue. 

She couldn’t lie, she’d been thinking about this since she’d woken up n the morning, surprised by her need for him.

 

But this was still the best way to show just how grateful she was, and judging by the way he thrashed and moaned above her, he was getting the message, loud and clear.

“M-mistress,  _ fuck _ , I’m close, I’m so close, so,” he panted, eyes fluttering as his knuckles turned white with the force of his grip, desperately trying to stay in control.

 

Saz pulled off of his cock with a soft ‘pop’ and a wicked grin, looking up at him with a cocked eyebrow.

“Then cum for me, sweetheart,” she all but whispered, slipping her lips back around his cock as he bucked a little, whimpering and completely lost to the warmth of her mouth and the soft tracing of her clever tongue.

 

It was only a few seconds before he was crying out, cock twitching as he came in her mouth. His head was throwing back, muscles straining as Saz watched him, more aroused than she’d felt in a long time. 

She swallowed everything he had to offer, gently licking him clean as he continued whimpering and mewling for her, his softening cock hypersensitive now and aching in the best way as she pulled off of him, rocking back on her heels.

 

“You enjoy that, babe?” she asked, nonchalant as she wiped some of his seed from her lips, sucking her finger dramatically as he finally looked at her, his chest heaving and eyes wide.

“H-holy  _ fuck _ ,” he panted, eyes still swimming and unfocused, “I…  _ fuck _ .”

“Take your time, sweetheart,” she reassured him, unable to stop the knowing smile that crossed her lips. 

He was so easy to ruin, and she was learning exactly how to take him apart.

“Let, let me kiss you,” he pleaded, taking her by surprise. “I want to taste myself on your tongue.”

 

Saz’s body reacted before her mind did, crawling up his body to meet his lips with hers. The shuddering moan that escaped Scott as he flicked his tongue against hers, tasting the remnant of himself in her mouth was almost worth the flush that rose through her body, ashamed at being so eager to do as he asked.

He was not supposed to be the one with the control here.

Strong hands creeping up her hips were the last straw as she pulled back, slapping him hard across the cheek.

“Did I say you could touch me?” she hissed, shuddering as Scott’s hands fell away from her, instantly.

“N-no, Mistress,” he admitted sheepishly, a red welt forming on his cheek. But while his body language and his voice were subservient, the fire in his eyes, the pure arousal at her actions was there, and undeniable.

“I thought it was over,” Scott murmured, voice a little smaller, “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s… it’s okay,” Saz sighed, shaking her head a little. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you. I just… got caught off guard.”

“Don’t,” Scott smirked, cocking an eyebrow. “I kind of enjoyed it.”

“You’re such a desperate whore,” Saz giggled, the tension in her chest easing somewhat.

“Only for you,” the pilot said, his voice barely audible as his hands slipped up Saz’s arms, down her wrists and laced his fingers with hers, bringing one up to his lips. “No-one else.”

 

Saz’s heart fluttered, her eyes widening as she watched him, completely lost in his gaze. It was full of adoration and lust, and she idly wondered just how long it had been, or if indeed someone had  _ ever _ looked at her like that.

“You’re… a good sub,” she smiled, trying to keep her composure. “You’re… pleasing.”

“Pleasing?” Scott chuckled back, his eyes still on hers as he let her hand from his grasp. “Don’t think I’ve ever been called that before.”

“First time for everything,” Saz sighed, looking around the cockpit. “So… we heading on to yours?”

 

Scott swallowed, his face twitching as he tried to measure his reaction, the excitement and trepidation he felt bubbling just under the surface as he nodded the affirmative.

“You nervous?” she asked, a little surprised when Scott nodded.

“A bit,” he admitted, expression sheepish. “My brothers can be a bit… weird?” he offered. “And my grandma, she’s… and Brains and… Kayo and… we have an AI and… it’s just… a lot. Are you… are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I can…”

“Scott,” Saz cut him off, admittedly a bit taken aback by his concern, “I’ll be fine. I promise. If it gets too much, I can always leave, right?”

Scott nodded, a little too quickly. 

“I just don’t want you to…”

“Be put off?” she finished for him. Scott hesitated for a second before nodding slowly. Saz smiled softly, her heart hammering in her chest.

Part of her wanted to push him, to ask him exactly what he thought they were, where he wanted this to go. But the softer part of her, the part he was bringing out of her more and more was there now.

“Trust me, babe,” she grinned, “after spending over half my life around both Ty and Teddy, as well as all their clients, I think I’m  _ more _ than prepared for anything your family can throw at me, okay?”

Scott forced a smile, nodding even through his obvious concern.

“I know,” he nodded, his smile turning a little watery. “I just… worry.”

“I’m a big girl. I can handle it. Now. What’s say we get going?” Saz smiled, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Scott’s cheek. The action had him flushing, eyes widening a little.

“But… what about you? It’s not fair that I…”

 

Saz’s lips slipped to meet his across stubbled skin, her tongue fluttering against his for a moment before she pulled back, wishing she could express her thanks at his concern.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that later, right? Or do you share a room or something?”

“No,” Scott said quickly, “I just… I kind of want you now…”

 

Saz’s grin turned wicked again as she gave a soft ‘aww’, moving to straddle his hips. A soft moan left Scott’s throat as her lips danced over his, her breath teasing him as she drew close, just close enough to feel the brush of skin on skin, then pulled away just as they were about to close the gap.

“Want doesn’t get, sweetheart,” she cooed softly, her eyes smouldering as she pulled away, removing herself from Scott’s lap and moving to sit in the seat behind him. “Now,” she smiled, trying to hold back a laugh at the obvious shock on Scott’s face, “I take it you know where you’re going?”

 

Scott was lost for words, grumbling something about ‘flying while hard’ and began his pre-flight checks, trying to ignore the excited churning in his stomach and the arousal still flooding his system.

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

Alan was pacing when Gordon came into the lounge, watching his brother with some amusement as the blonde grumbled to himself, shaking his head.

“Everything okay there?” he asked, grinning as Alan turned to glare at him before sighing, shaking his head.

“John hasn’t called you?” he asked, sounding worried. His tone made Gordon’s smile slip a little, a thousand awful thoughts rushing through his mind.

“No, he hasn’t. What’s happened? What’s wrong? Is it Virgil?”

“No, no,” Alan sighed shaking his head. “Scott’s on the way back.”

 

Gordon raised an eyebrow as he walked to the conversation pit, all but throwing himself down on the the sofa when he get there, kicking his legs up to rest on the table.

“And that’s a bad thing?” he asked, watching as Alan moved next to him, still shaking his head.

“He’s bringing his  _ girlfriend _ ,” he hissed, a little petulant.

 

Gordon’s eyes widened.

“Woah, woah,  _ girlfriend _ ? When did this happen?”

“Dunno,” Alan admitted, “but after some of the stuff I’ve seen… I don’t know if I want to meet her.”

Gordon’s interest was immediately piqued again.

“What things?” he asked, mischief dancing in his eyes as Alan flushed and huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Trust me when I say this,” Alan pleaded, “and I’m saying this as someone who cares about you deeply and would share  _ anything _ with you that you really,  _ really _ don’t want to know.”

 

It was a red flag to a bull, Gordon shifting on the sofa to stare at his younger brother, eyes bulging.

“Okay, now you  _ have _ to tell me,” he urged him, tone desperate, “Al… Is it weird? Is it  _ kinky _ ? What happened? I  _ need _ to know.”

Alan shook his head.

“Nah uh. All I’ll tell you is it came in the post. And I am  _ not _ being responsible for scarring you for life. Virgil would never forgive me.”

 

Gordon grinned. 

“In the post, you say? Was this, perhaps, a  _ personal _ item?”

“Several,” Alan muttered, shuddering. He wished, now more than ever, that brain bleach was a thing, because damn it, he couldn’t stop picturing the contents of that box.

Gordon grinned, the cogs in his mind turning.

“Ooooh,” he nodded thoughtfully, drawing a raised eyebrow from Alan. “Riiiight, I get it.”

“You  _ so _ do not,” Alan protested, huffing again.

“Sure I do,” Gordon grinned, “Scotty’s found a new way to get his rocks off, right? Say… with toys that you might,  _ traditionally _ associate with women?”

 

Alan’s gaze snapped to his brother, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“How did you…” he began, Gordon holding in a laugh as he shrugged, leaning back on the sofa.

“I saw him limping,” he explained casually, “figured he’d been ‘ _ experimenting _ ’. I mean, I say good for him, it takes all sorts, you know?”

“Yeah, but it’s  _ weird _ ,” Alan whined, slumping on the sofa, “like  _ really _ weird.”

“Why?” Gordon asked, his smile slipping a little again, “you ever tried it?”

“No!” Alan shouted, looking sheepish, “I don’t… that’s not…”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” the older blonde grinned, winking. Alan’s mouth fell open, his eyes wide and staring.

“You… you haven’t?” he practically screeched, Gordon giggling.

“Dude, I’m bi,” he shrugged, “it’s kind of… part of the journey, if you like.”

“You’re  _ bi _ ?” Alan repeated, looking as if someone had just told him the world was indeed flat, “How… how did I not know this?”

“I don’t broadcast it,” Gordon shrugged again, “but I know what I like.”

“So… have you ever… like, with a guy?” Alan asked, horror morphing into fascination, “What was it like? Did he… you know, do you or…”

“Woah, woah,” Gordon laughed, raising his hands, “slow down! I’ve never slept with a guy,” he chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Then how do you  _ know _ you’re bi?” Alan challenged, frowning, “You can’t know unless you’ve  _ tried _ it.”

 

Gordon grinned, shaking his head again.

“Not so, kiddo. I… okay, how do I explain this? So… I’m attracted to men  _ and _ women. I think they’re both hot and I’ve done…  _ stuff _ with both. Not all the way with guys, but enough to know this isn’t a passing thing. But even  _ before _ then, I felt like… attraction…  _ urges _ to do things with both guys and girls. So… yeah, I figured I was bi, and I started… trying stuff. And let’s just say, I can tell why Scott might like it. It’s… intense, but… not in a bad way, if that makes sense?”

 

Alan stared, nodding numbly.

“I don’t think… I mean, I don’t know,” he murmured, trying to put together a sentence. “So… you and Penny?” he asked, Gordon flushing a little. Alan knew a little more than most, with them being close, but it still wasn’t a lot. 

“What about it?” Gordon asked, sounding a little defensive.

“So… if you  _ do _ start seeing her, if she says yes, will… will you still be bi? Even though you’re with a girl?”

 

Gordon nodded, breathing a sigh of relief that the question was not actually about their relationship.

“Yep,” he nodded. “It’s like… it’s a part of who I am. Just because I fall in love with someone, it doesn’t mean that takes that away.”

 

A grin lit up Alan’s face.

“Aww, you love her?” he asked, mischief returning to his gaze. Gordon blushed, shrinking a little before lunging for the comm link on the table, calling Thunderbird 5.

 

“Hey, John,” he called as the comm link connected, the older man’s hologram turning to face him with an irritated look on his face, “why didn’t you tell me Scott had a girlfriend?”


End file.
